Fury
by Ryouka Yuzuki
Summary: Tohma Seguchi thought he had it all until he started receiving death threats from a mysterious stranger. Will Tohma be able to survive the plot against him? CHAPTER 5 IS UP! TohmaxRyuichi
1. Track 01: Changing Lanes

Track 01: Changing Lanes

**Title:** Fury

**Summary:** Someone is planning a plot against Tohma. Will he be able to survive it? XD

**Disclaimer:** I'm still not rich, therefore I obviously don't own Gravitatiion.

--o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**-**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o--

Track 01: **Changing Lanes**

Shift.

A red car, particularly a Mercedes model, was wheeling fast across the winding freeway. It must be running a hundred or so kilometers as it shifted smoothly from lane to lane allowing the cars ahead of it to give way to the raging auto.

How fast and furious the car was is just the exact opposite of the driver inside it. A man in his early thirties, wearing a rather stylish and trendy coat, materialized a perfect icon of sanity and solitude. Being a natural blonde blessed with green eyes, one can assume that he belonged to the elites or the upper class. He's proud to say that he's the master of his fate and time. He is coordinated and well-disciplined in both his business works and career as a musician.

He has claimed the title of being one of the most powerful men in the city, having owned a production company that he had established long after he and his band mates had broken up almost 3 years ago. He is almost at the top of everything and he's happy with it. No… he loves it, seeing how powerful his influence is and how it easily controls and manipulates the people around him.

And yet another opportunity in his career as the creative synthesizer of his band had sparked up. He and his band mates decided to rebuild Nittle Grasper, whose fame and success is still unsurpassable up to now due to their record-breaking history of selling 20,000,000 album copies in just two days.

But things won't be easy as they have been before; they now have Badluck as one of their rivals. This amateur band of three promising young men is the rising sibling of his NG Corporation, and they have been showing a lot of talent lately being in the rank #16 of Japan's J-pop hit chart.

But number one is still number one. Badluck has to try something more unique and different to surpass Nittle Grasper.

Shift.

He yanked the wheel as he accelerated into a yet another break-neck speed when his phone suddenly rang.

"Hello?"

"Tohma! Where the hell are you?! We've been waiting here for about an hour! Where are you planning to get here anyway?!"

Shift.

"Ah Noriko-san. Gomenasai. I had a late paperwork to sign at yesterday night. I didn't realize the time. I overslept."

"Well, you better-"

The voice of the woman was suddenly cut off by a rather funny child-like one.

"Nah Tohma-san! You're late! Kumagorou is starting to get bored! Na-no-da!"

Shift.

"Ne Ryuichi, I'll be there in a minute ok? Just wait for me both of you and…"

Tohma realized that he was actually speaking to no one. He could hear over the background of the other line the furious brawling of Noriko and the loud sobs and taunting of Ryuichi. Tohma smiled as he hang up the phone. There's no use of talking to both of them in that chaotic kind of state.

He accelerated the car even more and was about to turn around the corner when his phone gave another ring. Expecting the caller to be Ryuichi, he answered the phone buoyantly.

"I said I'll be there in a-"

"Seguchi Tohma."

Shift.

Tohma's smile slowly faded on his face. The voice doesn't belong to Ryuichi and surely not to Noriko. The voice is rather hushed and low. In fact, he's having a hard time recognizing if the voice belonged to a man or a woman. He stared at the number in his phone screen. He's not familiar with it either. It doesn't belong to any of his friends or colleagues, or even one of his business partners.

"Who's this?" he asked seriously over the line.

"…"

"I said who's this?"

"…"

Shift.

There was still no answer. The only thing he could hear on the other line was the scattered breaths of the caller. He thought of hanging up but decided of a better plan. He was just about to say something when suddenly the voice replied.

"You're going to pay."

It took time before Tohma realized that he's about to crash to a black Corolla in front of him. He tugged the wheel hard but it was too late. The two cars collided with each other sending scrapes of metal into the air.

It was a direct hit and the damage was great. Tohma could see that the hood of his car was in total wreck. But miraculously, he wasn't hurt. He didn't have any serious injuries at all other than a cut in the cheek, that he supposed he had gotten when a metal nicked him in the face.

But he couldn't care less. In fact, he was only half-aware of the incident. His mind is particularly troubled with the call he had just received. He leaned back in his car seat, staring unblinkingly at his phone.

_Who the heck was that?_ He asked himself. Not that he should worry about it, he got security and everything but it troubles him. He didn't take advantage of anyone or _abused_ anyone, well, physically speaking. He got no enemies, does he?

He sat there thinking for about 5 minutes when suddenly a police officer approached him by the window.

"Sir, are you alright?" A rather pale and weak-looking man in his twenties asked him nervously.

This brought him back from his thoughts. He could hear sirens of police cars outside. Then he stared at the policeman. If it hasn't been for the accident, he would have been laughing now. The policeman looked as if he had seen a ghost. Tohma feared that he might just faint outside his car anytime now. Instead, he answered him courteously with his trademark smile.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you."

He stepped out of his car and saw the vast crowd of people gathered behind the police yellow line, whispering to each other. The ones at the back were tiptoeing so they could see what's happening at the front. He heard the people gasp at the sight of him and it was followed momentarily by the excited squeals of the lady members of the mob.

Ignoring this, Tohma, accompanied by the pale policeman, approached the owner of the Corolla, who, Tohma saw, was awfully covered with blood, and was currently being attended to by two medical doctors. He continued to walk to their direction when he was suddenly halted by yet, another medical nurse.

"Excuse me, sir. Before you talk to them, we need to check you up first for injuries."

"No, I'm okay. Thank you."

"But sir…"

Tohma gave the man a ferocious glare which made the poor guy jump back by the harshness of it.

"I'm fine, really." He allowed his glare fade into another smile. "I'm just in a kind of hurry, you know."

--o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**- End of Track 01 -**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o--

**Author's Notes:**

Bah… this is my first fic. Please be gentle. Heh. Chapter 2 is in progress. I'll just post it up after I see the reactions of the readers so please leave a message. It'll be my pleasure.

Edited on April 21, 2008


	2. Track 02: Mischief Managed

Track 02: Mischief Managed

**Title:** Fury

**Summary:** Ryuichi and Noriko found out about Tohma's accident. And the plan of someone came out too good.

**Disclaimer:** I'm still not rich, therefore I obviously don't own Gravitation.

--o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**-**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o--

Track 02: **Mischief Managed**

Ryuichi yawned. _Now this is really getting boring_, he thought to himself. There isn't any form of entertainment available in this bar. No papers, no crayons. There's nothing he could find useful to doodle upon.

He sighed. He wished he had brought his stuffs along with him. He never thought that Tohma would actually be this late in their meeting. He glanced around the pub, checking if Tohma finally managed to get there. There was no sign of him.

And then he caught site of the television that was hanging from the corner of the ceiling. It showed a video of a band Ryuichi didn't recognize. He yawned for the second time. He stretched his arms and reached for his Kumagorou.

He feels a little bit down and sad. Well, for one thing, people all over the earth already knew the fact that Tohma is the busiest person this world could produce. Ryuichi still find it hard to believe that anyone could have such draining life.

Well, of course Ryuichi understand this. Without all the work and effort that Tohma had put into their band, he believed it wouldn't be possible for them to reach their current state. Ryuichi still marvels sometimes on how Tohma manages all the things he's doing.

_But still_, Ryuichi thought stubbornly, _no one could be that busy_. He's a bit disappointed on Tohma, to tell the truth; he thought that Tohma value his friends more than his work or his money.

He leaned back silently on the chair. Well, maybe he should give Tohma another chance. Ryuichi knew Tohma had never failed in making up for his mistakes. He sighed once more and was just thinking longingly on what he will draw on his sketch book once he got home when he heard an uneasy tut on his right. He turned his gaze on his partner.

"Wonder what took Tohma so long?" Noriko asked worriedly. "He had never been this late. It must be nearly an hour after the last time I called him."

"Na Noriko-san. Maybe we should try and call him again… no-da."

"Oh, yeah? And try and break my nails again?" Noriko said, veins throbbing on her temples.

Ryuichi suddenly burst into tears. He wailed loudly and threw his hands to the air. He fairly resembled a one year-old baby and looked as though his birthday had been canceled. Everyone in the bar looked into their way. Noriko had to push Ryuichi's head down in his chair so no one would recognize him.

"Ehehe… sorry. He just misses his pet dog, that's all." Noriko explained uncomfortably to the crowd, a drop of sweat visible in the side of her head.

Ryuichi popped his head up as the people retreated their heads back into their own tables. He stared up at Noriko with sparkling eyes. He sobbed softly, trickle of tears splashing down in his front.

"You did make a good scene there, Ryu. Wait till I tell Tohma 'bout this." Noriko said lazily, a spark of malice in her eyes.

"Nah Noriko-san, why are you so mean to me today? No-da… If you like I'll give you my bunny costume… or how about my ring? I got loads of them… or my Kumagorou? Na-no-da…" Ryuichi, whimpering loudly, began piling up the counter table with all the things he offered Noriko.

But Noriko was ignoring her. Ryuichi barely had time to wonder why, for in that instance Ryuichi discovered what caught Noriko's attention. Ryuichi followed her gaze and saw quite clearly, on the television, the most devastating crash he had ever seen in his life.

Behind the reporter, Ryuichi saw two cars. The car that had received the full blast was a black Corolla, with its back horribly damaged. He turned his attention to the other car and felt his stomach dropped a few inches. He quickly recognized the red Mercedes.

_That car… that car, no…_ he felt his insides turning sickeningly… _that car, _how many times he had seen that car being driven by him… no doubt, that car surely belonged to…

"Tohma!!" shrieked Noriko. She grabbed her purse and ran out of the bar, Ryuichi trailing behind her.

The bartender eyed them with great bewilderment as he yelled after them "Hey! What about these?" His right hand in the air clutching the pink bunny.

--oooo0000oooo--

Yuki woke up with a start. He stared lazily around the room. There were golden rays of sunlight filtering through his bedroom window and it casted some formless shadows on his walls and ceiling. He crossed his gaze through his room and saw at the far end of it, his bedroom door stood ajar.

He scratched his head as he sat up, remembering the reason why he had woken up. He absent-mindedly reached for his digital clock on his bedside table. He breathed an air of annoyance as he realized the time. It's only 10 o'clock in the morning, which means he had been asleep for only five hours at most.

He slept so late last night because he had to finish his latest novel which is already due next week. He put the clock back down as he let himself be immersed with his thoughts again. He tried to recall what woke him up and the answer came to him in a flash: _Shuichi_.

Yuki wondered what that brat's doing this time. He could hear loud noises and hurried footsteps from the kitchen. _Is he planning to wake the whole building up?_

Yuki climbed out of his bed and crossed the room with great difficulty. He still felt dizzy and weary. This is partly because he had been staying late at night for three days in a row, trying to finish his novel. He couldn't afford staying awake for another night.

The other reason was Shuichi. He let out an impatient moan. Their relationship was going nowhere. Each is so busy with their careers that both of them can't find time to talk about their present situation.

And there was also the loud taunting and uncontrollable hyper activeness of his lover. He felt a second stab of annoyance. _Yeah that moron… you can always trust him to ruin everything for him. _

He opened the door and yelled, "Oy! Keep it down, you idiot!" and closed it with a snap. He could hear the small explosions from the kitchen ceased down, followed closely by a momentary silence.

He just have to go to bed, he needs to. He could feel the exhaustion finally getting into him as it robs him the little health he had regained from his sleep. It seemed that one good cheesy hug from Shuichi would finish him off.

He crawled slowly from under his sheets and brought them up high to his chin. He was about to lay flat on his stomach when his bedroom door suddenly burst open with a bang.

"What the…?!" Yuki sat bolt upright but was almost instantly knocked down by Shuichi.

Shuichi tugged hard the collars of Yuki's pajamas as he rocked him forward and backward. "Yuki, wake up! Wake up! You need to see this! Quick! It's Seguchi-san… on the news…"

Shuichi leapt from the bed and pushed the TV open, which luckily, gave Yuki the chance to regain himself.

"What-the-devil-do-you-think-you're-doing?!" choked Yuki, clutching his throat tightly.

"Gomenasai Yuki. But I think you ought to know. You see, Seguchi-san…"

"Shut up a minute" Yuki cut in, throwing cautions into the air, one hand still gripping his throat. His full attention was now focused on the TV which showed them a very bizarre collision of two cars.

The black Corolla was reduced to something nothing bigger than a tin can and next to it was a red Mercedes with its front hood completely flattened. He knew at once who the owner of that car was. That was the car that the Seguchi's usually drive. He stared, dumbstruck, at the wreckage. Would anyone survive in something like that?

"The police reported that the drivers of both cars were not in any mortal danger, but it seemed that both vehicles are beyond repair. The driver of the black car was identified as Mr. Shirou Makoto of the suburban town of Kyoto. He was rushed up to the Tokyo's General Hospital and was currently being checked-up by some medical experts for any serious injuries.

On the other hand, the driver of the red Mercedes car was recognized as Mr. Seguchi Tohma, the famous keyboardist of a well-known group of singers who disbanded themselves almost three years ago, and is also a professional proprietor of a strong production firm. Mr. Seguchi took the whole responsibility in paying for all the loss in the accident and was rather keenly in offering Mr. Shirou eight hundred thousand yen as a sign of apology. Both parties are unfortunately unavailable for comments. This is Miyuki Monou reporting live for Channel 2. Back to you, Akiya."

"What do you reckon?" asked Shuichi in a worried voice as he clicked the TV off. "Is Seguchi-san gonna be alright?"

"He's going to be alright. Don't worry. He have his ways." Yuki drawled sluggishly as he slumped back into his bed.

What are his ways, Shuichi didn't have the time to know, for in that moment, he heard the soft snores of Yuki, as he drifted off in an uneasy sleep. His fury on how Shuichi nearly choked him to death lay completely forgotten.

--oooo0000oooo--

Click!

Off goes the TV.

"Suppose you're happy now, aren't you?" asked an amused voice of a man.

"No. I'm not" came another voice. This voice sounded cold and hoarse. "It's just the beginning. I did not expect that the effect of this plan would come out too well. Nevertheless, we shall proceed with the rest of the plan. I know Tohma. He would not be shaken with something as simple as this. What we really need is… more time. Yes, we would wait for a few more weeks and eventually, we would be able to put the whole plan into action."

There was a minute silence, then, "You're not backing out, are you?" asked the cold voice coolly.

"Of course not. I'm on your side. Wait till I get my hands on him…"

--o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**- End of Track 02 -**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o--

**Author's Notes:**

Yaye! Finally! I've been able to urge my lazy butt into writing the second chapter of Fury. Mischief managed – this title was taken from the book of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Yeah… some words here are a bit british-ized. Tehe. I thought the title's cool and suitable for this chapter. I hope you have found out why. Wheh… I can't wait till summer… I wanna watch the Prisoner of Azkaban!! wails loudly

Edited on April 21, 2008


	3. Track 03: Phase 1: The Wheels in Motion

Track 03: Phase One: Wheels in Motion

**Title:** Fury

**Summary:** The life of Seguchi Tohma after the fateful accident. And the first part of the plan of the mysterious caller springing up into action.

**Disclaimer:** I'm still not rich, therefore I obviously don't own Gravitation.

**Warning:** Sly humor up ahead. The calm before the storm.

--o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**-**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o--

Track 03: **Phase One: The Wheels in Motion**

Not for the first time, an argument had broken out over lunch at the Seguchi's house. Mika Seguchi had been explaining to Tohma for the past half hour on how she thinks her husband needed badly to stay home.

"-But the doctor said you need a lie down," Mika cried exasperatedly.

"I'm perfectly fine, Mika. You're just exaggerating-"

"Exaggerating?" asked Mika. "Exaggerating?"

"Look, I'm sorry," Tohma said. "But I just couldn't sit here for another day doing nothing, and I've seen enough of this house to last myself a lifetime."

"You wouldn't say that if you break your neck or something," Mika said darkly.

Tohma paused and stared blankly at his wife. It was a clear and cloudless Saturday afternoon and all Tohma felt like doing was strolling onto the garden and savoring the fresh air whipping playfully on his face, perhaps gulping down an ice-cold drink or watching the birds fly past the trees.

But he couldn't. It's already been past three days since the day Tohma had that fateful car accident. But he can still remember, as if it just happened yesterday, the fresh horror brought by that incident.

Of course, the first reaction of his wife, as he had expected, was to let out a frantic cry of horror and weep hysterically for about an hour, as if someone had died, before he let Tohma explain everything. After hearing the details, Mika still insisted that Tohma needed to see a medical team of experts, even if Tohma explained desperately that all he had gotten from that accident was a thin cut on the cheek. But Mika refused point blank to listen to his husband's complaints.

"But I haven't even got any injuries!" Tohma began hotly. It was the day after his car accident. He was inside the master's bedroom, lying in his bed. Mika was sitting beside him; and Ryuichi and Noriko, who decided to drop by that day, were sitting in two high-backed chairs near the foot of his bed.

"We're not sure about that," said Mika warningly. "What if you had had internal bleedings because of the impact? What if that accident deformed your lungs? What if you had developed a skin cancer we're not aware of!?"

Tohma just gaped incredulously at her wife. Then he turned to Noriko and Ryuichi, seeking for help.

"Tohma, I think Mika's right," Noriko said seriously. "There is really no harm in checking if you have sustained any injuries. If you're okay and everything, then fine, you wouldn't hear anything from us anymore. We won't stop you from doing what you want."

"But I would _feel_ it if ever there's something wrong with me, in which I doubt, won't I?"

"I agree with Noriko, Tohma-kun," said Ryuichi, while Noriko nodded approvingly next to him. "We needed to be sure, you know," he added. Then Ryuichi contorted his face and adopted Mika's shrill voice. "What if you had developed a breast cancer we're not aware of!?"

There were suddenly two airborne pillows in the air soaring towards Ryuichi, one of each from Tohma and Mika. Ryuichi, though startled, had managed to avoid the first pillow. He, however, failed to evade the second one, which hit him full in the face, and he tumbled backward onto the floor together with his chair.

"It will only take a few minutes, Tohma. Just a few minutes, ok?" continued Noriko, as though nothing had happened, though she had her eyebrows raised slightly.

Tohma considered it for a moment. He looked around at each of them, buying some time: to Mika, with her face full of anticipation; to Noriko, who was staring back at him looking gravely serious; and to Ryuichi who, having just emerged to the surface of the bed, was looking at him curiously.

Tohma heaved a deep sigh and said finally in a defeated voice, "Yeah, ok. Fine."

"That's great!"

"Now, we would need not to worry if ever Tohma developed a breast cancer or not!"

Ryuichi received, yet again, a direct hit of the pillow in the face.

"Well, now that it's all settled, I think it's time to call the doctor." Mika said brightly, clapping her hands together. She lifted the receiver of an intercom on the bedside table and ordered a maid to usher the doctor in. Mika was just in the act of putting down the receiver when they suddenly heard a soft knock on the door. Noriko stood up and answered it.

"Er…"

The door bore a sinister-looking doctor, and next to him are three uniformed grumpy female nurses carrying three bulging medical bags and together, they entered the room. They marched composedly toward where the bed stood, the doctor in the lead, and proceeded to where Mika sat. The male doctor extended his beefy hand to shake Mika's slender one.

"Good day, Ms. Seguchi. I'm Dr. Keiichi Yamazaki. Pleased to meet you," he said pompously in a low baritone. "And ah, here are my well-trained and beautiful nurses," he added, stepping aside to let Mika and the rest have a good view of the other three. The three nurses automatically threw their chest out, as if they're practicing this meeting for a long time, and smiled menacingly at Tohma.

Tohma smiled weakly. He didn't know what to say. He just stared apprehensively at them, unsure whether to continue this or not.

"Well, Mr. Seguchi," Dr. Yamazaki said, addressing Tohma. "We're just going to check you for any sign of injuries."

At first, Dr. Yamazaki reached and felt for Tohma's forehead. Then he put his hand over Tohma's throat and felt it, too. After that, his hand traveled to Tohma's pink-tinged cheek and it rested there for _quite_ a while. Dr. Yamazaki was humming merrily.

Tohma raised his eyebrows and cleared his throat loudly. Dr. Yamazaki straightened his clothes as he was brought back to his senses. He sat more straightly and began to ask Tohma some questions.

"Experienced any dizziness? Ever feel light-headed?"

"No."

"Can you move your body easily? Feeling any pain in any part of your body?"

"No."

"I see," Dr. Yamazaki nodded absent-mindedly, writing on his clipboard and looking as though he didn't really see the logic behind Tohma's answers.

Then he proceeded on checking Tohma's arms and chest. It continued like that for five minutes, where Dr. Yamazaki ordered occasionally his nurses some medical apparatuses that looked horribly like the murder equipment being used by mad psychopathic killers in suspense-thriller movies. Tohma mustered all his might not to throw any nasty comments to the doctor. He just contented himself in breathing heavily and thinking that it would be all over soon.

Then, after ten more quiet and painful minutes, in which Mika was muttering hysterical sobs on his side, Dr. Yamazaki finally spoke.

"Well, Ms. Seguchi," he said in a mournfully agonizing voice, addressing Mika, "I am afraid your husband is suffering three broken ribs, a lacerated kidney, a lockjaw in which he needed three months to fully recover, not to mention cancer of the lungs in which he can't recover anymore because there's no cure at all. I diagnosed that he will only live for a week. I suggest you say your goodbyes nice and early."

There was an awkward pause. Everyone in the room just stared at Tohma, unable to speak. Then, in what seemed like forever, Ryuichi made the first noise.

"What?!" he said outrageously. "Cancer of the lungs? I thought it was cancer of the brea-"

"What do you mean I'll only live for a week?" Tohma interjected, raising his eyebrows so high that they were in danger of disappearing into his hair.

"It means you have to stay within the walls of this house for a whole week while I _personally_ observe your behavior and activities," Dr. Yamazaki answered.

"WHA-- STAY?! FOR A WEEK?" Tohma asked angrily.

"Yes, Mr. Seguchi. For a week, or else you'll worsen your condition," the doctor said serenely, quite unaffected from Tohma's sudden uproar.

"Are you out of your mind!? I-HAVE-NOT-GOT-ANY-INJURIES!"

"Ooh, T-chan! T-chan!" Noriko cried animatedly as she ran and flung her arms around Tohma's neck. "T-chan! What will ever happen to us now?"

This was the last straw for Tohma. All the self-restraint he was trying to contain for the past few days had gone. He tried to get out of bed (Noriko had let go of Tohma) but Mika, sensing what Tohma was about to do, pushed him back to the bed.

"Gerrof me!" Tohma shouted angrily, struggling under Mika's weight; because her wife had had just moved on top of him to prevent him from escaping.

"I won't! You will stay here for a week just as what Dr. Yamazaki told you to do so!" said Mika, now gripping both Tohma's hands.

Tohma tried to struggle free from his wife but to no avail, so he had no choice but to finally agree on being held indoors for a whole week. There was really no point arguing his defenses to Mika; it was plain that her wife wouldn't listen to a word he says, and that he might just as well tell his bed pillows not to worry for all the good it will do.

But today, he will no longer listen to Mika's pleas and warnings nor stay in the house without doing nothing except watching and listening to some stupid news report speculating some crazy rumors about him and the accident.

He had been expecting this whole media pandemonium would happen; his lawyer had told him about it. The media is obviously clinging to any angle that will heighten the fever of the incident.

Shortly after the accident had taken place, Tohma called his attorney to fix the whole mess for him and to settle an agreement with the other party. After a hurried talk with the injured driver of the black Corolla, he instantly departed with Noriko and Ryuichi (the crowd around the scene of the accident became more restless) who, having watched in the television what had happened, speedily went to his aid.

Tohma was suddenly brought back from the train of his thoughts by the sudden ring of the doorbell. He heard the housemaid answered the door.

"Tohma, you know I can't let you out," Mika said sternly, catching his attention.

"Just drop it, will you?" said Tohma tiredly.

Then the maid who Tohma thought must have answered the door, entered the dining room and bowed courteously to him and Mika.

"Excuse me, Mr. Seguchi. But Mr. Sakuma is here to see you, sir."

"Let him in," Tohma said.

The maid bowed again and went out of the room. After a few moments, they heard a familiar animated voice echoed around the dining hall, getting nearer.

"Tohma-kun? Tohma-kun? Are you in here? Kumagorou said he misses you already!" called Ryuichi.

Tohma and Mika saw him poke his head inside the dining room door and after seeing that both of them are inside, Ryuichi suddenly ran and locked his arms around Tohma's neck.

"Nah, Kumagorou! Tohma's here! How've you been doing, Tohma-kun? Noda…"

"Get off, Ryu. I-can't-breath!"

Tohma disentangled himself off of Ryuichi and straightened his clothes.

"Gomen, Tohma-kun. We're here because Kumagorou wonders if ever you have developed that breast cancer yet."

"Ha-ha. Very funny." Tohma stated sarcastically.

"Anyway, what are you doing here, Ryuichi? I thought you and Noriko are meeting today?" Mika asked from the far side of the dining table.

Ryuichi blinked curiously and looked at Mika, looking as though he was seeing his band mate's wife for the first time, but he answered nonetheless.

"I was on my way to our meeting place but I decided to check on Tohma first. I'm sure Noriko-chan would understand." he said cheerfully.

"Well, if that's the case," Tohma said, rising from his chair. "I would go with you, Ryuichi. It has been a long time since-"

"Where do you think you're going!?" shouted Mika.

"Look, I said drop it, ok?" retorted Tohma impatiently. "That doctor's a complete lunatic. Everyone knows that. And his diagnosis is just plain rubbish. And besides, I'm feeling perfectly fine and-"

"Stop being so stubborn, Tohma! You need to stay in the house!"

"THEN MAKE ME!" Tohma shouted, glaring furiously at her wife. He doesn't really see the point of staying in this stupid house anymore. He might get insane if he was confined inside it for even just one more day.

Mika looked like she was close to tears and Ryuichi was staring at her uncomfortably, but Tohma didn't care. She could cry a river but that wouldn't change his decision to go with Ryuichi, and nothing can stop him.

Mika, sensing defeat, stomped out of the dining room. She must have known that she can't stop Tohma anymore and judging by the look on Tohma's face, his husband must be dead serious. They could hear the loud stubborn footsteps of Mika disappearing into the hall outside.

Ryuichi was staring apprehensively at the door to where Mika had disappeared, but Tohma was already on his way towards the hall.

"Wait for me, Ryu. I'll just change my clothes. I'll go with you." Tohma called to him.

"Ano… I think Mika's quite angry," Ryuichi said mildly, catching up to Tohma. "Do you think it's really alright for you to go with me?"

"Dead sure."

--oooo0000oooo--

"Can you really believe what happened?" Shuichi Shindou asked dubiously to his band mates for the hundredth time.

It was afternoon that day and Shuichi, together with Hiro and Suguru, were lounging in the studio, savoring a break from their day's rehearsal.

"If you ask me that one more time, I'll shoot you." Hiro said tonelessly, adjusting his guitar.

"But isn't Tohma-kun really lucky? To survive something horrible like that?" Suguru wondered, bringing up the subject nonetheless. "I wonder how's he doing now."

"What?" said Hiro, looking shocked. "You mean you don't know? Aren't you his cousin or something?"

"Yeah, I am. But we are not really that close, you see. Tohma is the type who likes to keep things to himself," Suguru answered, shrugging his shoulders. "You know, the mysterious and silent type."

"Yuki said it was fishy." Shuichi interjected suddenly.

"What's fishy?" Hiro asked curiously, in spite of himself.

"Yuki said it was fishy that Seguchi-san had lost control of the wheel," Shuichi explained to them. "He said that it was very unlikely for a guy like Tohma."

"Yuki seems to know a great deal about Tohma-kun, huh?" said Suguru.

"I think they're friends since college or something." Shuichi said, shrugging.

"Fishy or not, it doesn't change anything." Hiro commented.

"I wouldn't be quite optimistic if I were you, Hiro." said a voice suddenly, coming from the very back of the room.

They all turned to look from where the voice came from.

"What are you doing here?" asked Hiro dully, squinting his eyes to their tall and blonde manager. "I didn't see you coming. When did you come in?"

K slowly emerges from the dark shadows. He had his arms crossed in his chest and he was wearing a very serious look on his face.

"That doesn't matter now, my dear Hiro-kun," K replied calmly. "What matters is how all three of you could sit here and relax letting Tohma have the control of the game."

"Game?" Shuichi asked bewilderedly, staring innocently at K.

K laughed softly to himself. "Can't you see, Shuichi?" K began knowingly, raising his arms widely. "This is all part of Tohma's big game plan. A plan to make an immense way for him and his band mates to stardom again. That accident was evidently a part of this huge game he's playing." He ended with a spark of malice in his eyes.

"What? You mean Seguchi-san just made that whole thing up?" asked Suguru, disbelieving.

"Positive." K nodded continuously.

"But it seemed so real –"

"Don't be easily fooled by his charms. I know that man, he is a master manipulator. It was all about publicity, believe me!" declared K loudly. Then he shot a sharp look at Shuichi, who winced slightly and gulped nervously.

K walked and stepped in front of Shuichi. Then he placed his hands on each side of Shuichi's shoulder.

"Shindou Shuichi," said K firmly. "You know we can't let Tohma win this battle."

Shuichi nodded reluctantly, a sweat drop forming on the side of his head.

"So," continued K with the same firm voice. "We need to cause a diversion. A big event to catch the attention of the mass. And I need all three of you to do it."

"Er… So what are we supposed to do?" Shuichi asked apprehensively, getting uncomfortable by the moment.

"Well, here's the plan: I will send you three at the topmost floor of Tokyo Tower and let you jump down from up there. We will make it look like an accident. Sounds promising, ne?"

There was a ringing silence.

"K, will you please leave us out of your sick ambitions? We still want to live the rest of our lives, thank you very much." Hiro said indifferently, raising his eyebrows lazily.

K put his hands on his waist and laughed maniacally. "You can laugh as much as you want, Hiro. But my plan is flawless, it would be a big-"

"Nobody is laughing here except you, K." Hiro said passively, giving K a languid look.

"But –"

"If you jump first from that tower and sustained no injuries, then we'll follow you without hesitation." said Hiro nastily, bringing the conversation to an end.

--oooo0000oooo--

"Would that be all your order, sir?"

"Do you want to add anything more, Ryu?"

"Nope…"

"Then that would be all, thank you." Tohma said finally, folding up the menu and handing it back to the waiter.

At that, the waiter bowed courteously and walked back to the rear side of the restaurant.

Ryuichi shifted in his seat and stretched his arms together, looking around the restaurant curiously. It was a very handsome edifice with numerous finely-polished wooden chairs and tables, all bathed in an elegant orange light coming from the few chandeliers hanging on the ceiling above. The floor was made of glass-like stylish timber, completely embroidered with well-designed patterns and outlines. All in all, the restaurant looked simply superb.

Ryuichi, looking around still, also noticed that there were quite a few people dining in tonight, considering the fact that it's Saturday and still early. There were two couples seated on nearby tables on their left, and a bit further, a man reading a magazine, his face buried behind the glossy covers. There were also some people seated on distant tables but other than that, the restaurant looked mysteriously empty.

_Not that I have a problem with that_, Ryuichi thought silently. It was actually a good thing, considering that Tohma is still on a hot seat due to the controversial car accident. It wouldn't be really quite good if Tohma would be bombarded with questions from the press on his first day out of the house fresh from his three-day vacation.

Ryuichi sighed inwardly, though deep inside, all he felt like doing was smiling at the man opposite him. He looked at Tohma carefully, who was currently talking on his cellular phone (who might have made the call while he was busy with his thoughts). The sight of his band mate across the table brought him flashes of memories and somehow made him feel nostalgic.

Tohma must have felt Ryuichi's gaze at him because he suddenly looked at Ryuichi, mouthing something like 'It's Noriko-san!' and pointing his finger at his cellular phone. Ryuichi nodded to show that he understood, though he can't help but notice that Tohma is wearing an odd expression on his face.

"Hai, Noriko-san... Yes, I understand. See you later, then. Bye," Tohma said, clicking his cellphone off and setting it down the table.

Ryuichi, though he already averted his eyes off of Tohma, is still having a hard time keeping his face straight. He tried to shift his attention to a couple on a nearby table, but the image of Tohma kept popping in his head.

"Noriko-san said she'll be a bit late because she had to pick up some things on her way here, " Ryuichi heard Tohma speak. "But she said she'll – hey, what's up?"

"Wha – what?" Ryuichi asked innocently, looking intently at the table as if it were Tohma.

"You're acting really strange since we left the house, you know." Tohma said, stating the obvious.

"What do you mean strange? I'm not acting strange." Ryuichi said quietly.

"Ryuichi, look at me, please. You're talking to me, not the bloody table cloth." Tohma said, irritated.

Ryuichi apprehensively moved his gaze toward Tohma, who was wearing an annoyed but curious look on his face. It would be a matter of seconds before his face would break into a huge grin.

"Now tell me, is there something wrong?" Tohma asked, raising his eyebrows. "You keep smiling even though nothing's funny. What's up?"

"It's..."

"It's what?"

"Well, it's you, you see."

"What? What about me?" Tohma asked, evidently shocked from Ryuichi's answer.

"I just remembered something, that's all." Ryuichi said silently. Then he looked at Tohma, who was wearing a skeptical look on his face.

"It's nothing, really." Ryuichi said, raising his arms in defense but Tohma continued to stare at him cynically.

"Ok, ok," Ryuichi sighed, resigning for the worse. "Well, I just remembered when we were only starting out our band. You used to dress like that." He then pointed his finger to Tohma's clothes.

"Er… is that it?"

"Umm… yeah… BUT," Ryuichi began protesting in a dignified voice. "It brings back a lot of memories to me, you know. I remember when you were rumored to be living with Shin Takarai because he confessed in that TV show how much he likes you. And… and when we were all shocked when we were doing a TV interview and he was also there. And how he suddenly grabbed your arm and –"

"Ok, ok. I get it!" Tohma cut him suddenly. Ryuichi saw him heaved a deep sigh. "Ryu, you know I wouldn't wear this thing if you didn't say so…"

"I did that because the media is still hunting you. I know you don't want them to ogle around you asking questions…"

"Ryu, I know you meant well and I appreciate that, but I think there's really no need for this. There's no one here from the press…"

"But…"

_Ok, maybe it wasn't really a good idea after all_, Ryuichi thought in silence. He stared at Tohma and sighed heavily. _What's wrong with black pants and long-sleeved white shirt anyway?_ It looked good on Tohma, actually; the crisp white shirt perfectly frames his slender body, the black pants bring out the color of his milky white skin, and the silver necklace with a large black cross pendant dangling on his smooth neck accented Tohma's overall look of bearing.

_It really isn't so bad_, Ryuichi contemplated as he glanced again at Tohma. He actually missed the old Tohma. He missed the stubborn, semi-loud kid he met almost 16-years ago. Who would ever imagine that the tough, new-transferred teen in their school with that solid belief in everything he did will end up as a mild soft-spoken president of one of the largest companies ever built? Ryuichi remembered when he first met him; he rarely saw him smile, and he seemed aloof and avoided people all the time. And he also remembered that historical school incident involving Tohma, and the amount of rumors it has produced over a short period of time…

"Ryu, are you OK?" Tohma asked Ryuichi, frowning slightly.

"Uh… what? Oh yeah, I'm fine." Ryuichi replied absentmindedly.

"Are you sure you're fine?"

"It's OK. I just –" but before Ryuichi could answer back, a waiter of the restaurant interrupted them.

"Um… excuse me, Mr. Seguchi. But someone wanted to give this to you, sir," the waiter said courteously, handing Tohma a cream-colored envelope.

Tohma reached for the envelope, wearing an inquisitive look on his face. After murmuring an excuse, the waiter bowed politely and walked away from them. Ryuichi saw Tohma turn the envelope around, as if checking if there was anything written at the back of the envelope that would give a clue to what the letter was all about, but the envelope was completely blank.

"Who's that from?" Ryuichi asked Tohma, also looking at the envelope curiously.

"I don't know," Tohma shrugged. "There's no return address or even a name written on it."

"Maybe it's from a fan…"

"Well, we wouldn't find out if we will not open it." Tohma said, smiling thinly at him.

Ryuichi saw Tohma rip the side of the envelope and pull out a plain white card. He caught a glimpse of a short message written in black ink before Tohma held the card vertically, the back of it facing Ryuichi.

"Well? Is it from a fan asking you to marry her and be the father of her children?" Ryuichi asked teasingly. "Or is it from a someone else asking you to-" but Ryuichi stopped suddenly when he saw the look of confusion on Tohma's face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ryuichi asked warily. Tohma, who looked slightly shocked and annoyed, glanced up at Ryuichi and shook his head slowly.

"It's nothing…"

But Ryuichi can't be easily fooled. He may look like an idiot at one time or another because of his excessive cheerfulness, but he knows that there is something going on here. "Tohma, come on…"

"It's nothing, really." Tohma said, forcing a small smile on his face. But when Ryuichi didn't look convinced, he added, "I said it's nothing, OK? There's no point looking so worried. Look, I'm going to go and ask something to that waiter who gave this letter. You stay here and wait for Noriko, OK? I'll be back shortly." Tohma stood up on his chair and began walking toward the back of the restaurant.

"But-"

"I'll be back. Just stay there and wait for Noriko!" Tohma called back firmly.

Ryuichi just sat there, dumbfounded. _What was that all about?_ _What was it that Tohma was hiding from him?_ Ryuichi thought deeply, staring thunderstruck at the retreating back of his band mate.

--oooo0000oooo--

Tohma clasped the white card on his right hand. _What the hell is this all about? If this is a bloody joke, it is not funny_, Tohma thought rather rudely. This whole thing is starting to unnerve him. He clutched the card more tightly. He is now pretty sure of it: someone is playing stupid tricks on him. What's more unsettling is that this someone looked like he knows everything about him: what he's doing, who's he with and where he is.

He breathed deeply and tried to calm himself. He looked again at the white card; the black ink glistening menacingly by the orange light still bore that same message:

_Murder most foul, as in the best it is._

_One may smile and smile and be a villain._

_Your end is near._

_R.Y._

It's only been past three days since his car accident, and today he received yet another peculiar message from an unknown stranger. Was this all just coincidences? Or did all the messages come from the same person?

He has been thinking of all the possibilities since the day of his accident at who might be doing this to him and why, but each of his theories as unlikely as the next. He was sure he didn't recognize the voice of that stranger who called him, least the number. He deeply considered that it was all just a prank from someone with no life… up until now…

Tohma reread the letter. It looked like a death threat in one way or another. _Murder most foul_… what the hell does that mean? He's pretty positive he didn't murder anyone, least hurt anyone _physically_. _Is it Aizawa?_ No, he had taken care of that situation a long time ago, and he's pretty sure Aizawa isn't capable of doing things like these.

_Your end is near, R.Y._ Who is R.Y.? He doesn't remember knowing anyone having those initials. Tohma sighed and groaned silently. He's completely clueless about this whole thing.

He first approached a tall waiter who was clearing up a table, and after describing the man who gave him the letter, the tall waiter pointed him to the restaurant's counter. Tohma then thanked the man and moved toward to where the waiter directed him to.

After looking for a short while, Tohma spotted at last the waiter who gave him the letter and he quickly approached him. He cleared his throat softly.

"Ano… excuse me."

The waiter turned to him and a look of recognition fall on his face.

"Mr. Seguchi! How may I help you?" The waiter asked courteously.

"I just want to ask, who gave you this letter?" Tohma inquired, holding up the envelope.

"Oh that. It was a man who was reading a magazine," the waiter explained. "He told me to give the letter to you because he's a big fan of yours, and he said to me he is too shy to hand it to you personally."

"A man?" Tohma asked bewilderedly. "A man, where?"

The waiter quickly swept the restaurant with his eyes and found what he was looking for.

"There, the man sitting behind that couple." The waiter pointed. "No, not that one. The one who's wearing a black coat with his back facing us."

"Thanks." Tohma said as he walked forward to where the guy was sitting. He could feel the eyes of some people in the restaurant following him, but his attention was now focused to only one thing; that is to know the identity of the person who gave him the letter.

Tohma hastened his steps but before he could reach his destination, the man in the black coat stood up and quickly made his way towards the door.

"Hey! Wait!" Tohma called loudly, but the guy kept walking until he was almost at the door and was just about to exit the restaurant.

"TOHMA! Where are you going?" Tohma heard Ryuichi call out.

"Just stay there!" he shouted resolutely at Ryuichi, who Tohma saw was already on his feet and was about to follow him.

He saw the man open the door and leave the building quickly. Tohma then speedily rushed outside and instantly met an icy blast of wind on his face, but he couldn't care less. He tried to search for the guy amidst the vast amount of people walking on the street. It wasn't an easy task, but after a few minutes, he saw the man on a distance already turning on the next street.

"HEY! WAIT UP!" Tohma yelled furiously, but the guy seemed determined not to hear him. He was getting cold by now and his breath was already turning to an icy mist. He also saw that people were starting to gape at him.

After cursing under his breath, he ran swiftly and turned to the street where the man disappeared. A loud groan escaped his mouth.

The street was so full of people, it was virtually impossible for him to look for the guy. He sighed deeply and leaned against a wall of a store. _Who the hell was that?_ Tohma closed his eyes and tried to picture the attributes of the man. He was tall, even taller than him and has a slightly built body. But other than that, Tohma couldn't remember anything.

_I didn't even see his face_, Tohma laughed sarcastically to himself. He opened his eyes and looked up at the sky. It was very cloudy and there was a hint of a coming storm.

_I needed to go back to the restaurant. Ryuichi might get worried_, Tohma thought as he started to walk toward the restaurant. He would have to worry about what had happened later. Noriko and Ryuichi might get suspicious and he doesn't like to drag them into this mess.

After a few moments, raindrops started to fall.

--o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**- End of Track 03 -**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o--

August 24, 2005

**Author's Notes:**

Finally! After a very looooong time, I have finally updated this fic with one chapter. I have been thinking of a good plot for this story, and I'm glad that I have formulated a very good one. (wink.wink) I don't really want it to go to waste and I hope I'll be able to finish it. I have a good story line going up in my mind up to the part where Tohma would be kidnapped. I have also some nice scenes inside the kidnapping vista, but I still don't know how to further the story from that point up. And I'm still thinking if it's proper if Tohma would be eherm… raped or not. Haha! ;D

Chapter three is a bit longer than the first two chapters, and that's an improvement (lol). I would be writing more lengthy chapters from now on, but I promise not to bore your pants off with unnecessary details. Unimportant some things may seem, I assure you that they are all playing a part in developing the story.

Also, chapter three's pacing is very slow. It just all happened in a day! Must be pretty boring, ne? (hope not. XD)

Concerning Mika's character, I think I have overdone it. It is a bit out of character, don't you think? But somehow, she really has the capability to act like she did in this chapter. Oh, I really don't know X). In this chapter, she looked more of a Noriko than a real Mika to me. Oh well, I hope it didn't affect the quality of the story altogether.

Anyway to spice things up a little bit XD, I would let you have a sneak peek of the next chapter (just to make up for not updating this fic for months). **Track 03: Phase One: The Wheels in Motion** is basically just a filler to thicken the plot and develop it further. However, in chapters four and five, we will delve in further into Tohma's past, more specifically during his middle school days before Eiri enters his life. In here, he will meet someone very special in his life who had affected him greatly, though unconsciously. We will know a very different Tohma: funnier, more childish and very stubborn. I have a good story in my mind for chapters four and five, and I promise you it would be a good one, though it still depends on my mood swings XD. And I will wrap up the whole chapter four with a cliffhanger, and it will be linked directly to chapter five.

**Track 04: The Forgotten Memories.** This title is still tentative. It might be subjected to changes, but at least you have the grasp of the chapter four's contents. And chapters four and five, mind you, would both be one of the keys to uncover and discover the whole story. (hint.hint)

As for the coupling, of course there will be a slash pairing. My most preferred couple would be TohmaxShuichi, but suggestions are more than welcome. I don't really know if could work out a TohmaxRyuichi one; Ryuichi to me looked like a little too childish for Tohma. And I don't know what reason I could give to make their love probable.

Sorry for grammar and typographical errors. I'm not really an expert into fic writing, and this is my very first fan fiction ever written. So have some considerations. Don't shoot me.

My thanks to all who reviewed and encouraged me to continue this fic. And to my friend Lynne, who had helped me relived the embers of my Gravitation fever XD.

Translations:

Ano – A Japanese expression for uncertainty. More like "Uhmmm…" in English expression.

Hai – Yes.

Edited on April 21, 2008


	4. Track 04: The Forgotten Memories

Title: Fury

**Title:** Fury

**Summary: **Tohma lost something precious to him, and you'll have the very chance to peek into his past. (This summary sucks, doesn't it? XD) And oh, Shuichi… uh… realized something he hasn't noticed all these time. v I have to warn you though that this chapter contains some of my personal thoughts about how great and good-looking Tohma is. So if you're not much a fan of his, then brace yourself and read at your own risk. XD

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gravitation… yadda yadda yadda… XD

**Notes: **Tohma's past including some characters involved in his memory that weren't in the anime nor in the manga were written and only made by me. Familiarity with the anime would be helpful. ;-) Again, forgive any grammatical errors. Just my first fic.

**FANART ALERT**** (!):** While writing the latter part of this chapter, I just had this sudden urge to draw a fanart of my fic. Yes, people. I had drawn a 14-year-old Tohma together with… **(spoilers ahead)** Satoshi. Now, I believe that these (two) fanarts will fully justify why Tohma reacted the way he did when he saw the news. And I also would like to show you how Satoshi looks like (narrative description, I know, is not enough), since he was only made up by me. It's a shame if I'm the only one who knows how he looks like.

Pictures have mild shounen-ai theme. Sorry if some features of Tohma weren't the same with the original ones. Don't shoot me. ;

**URL:**

(i47.photobucket(dot)com/albums/f188/ryoukayuzuki/satoshitohma.jpg)

(i47.photobucket(dot)com/albums/f188/ryoukayuzuki/satoshitohma2.jpg)

(i47.photobucket(dot)com/albums/f188/ryoukayuzuki/satoshitohma3.jpg)

(i47.photobucket(dot)com/albums/f188/ryoukayuzuki/satoshitohma4.jpg)

(i47.photobucket(dot)com/albums/f188/ryoukayuzuki/tohma.jpg)

**FANART DISCLAIMERS:** Do not steal and claim them as yours. I have my signature on them as watermark. But you can redistribute them if you want. Credits to _Arina Tanemura _and _Tohru Azumi_.

--o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**-**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o--

Track 04: **The Forgotten Memories**

It was nearing midnight but he was still wide awake as he stood outside on the gray stone terrace outside his apartment. He closed his eyes and took a deep silent breath, feeling the freezing wind enter his lungs and numbing his senses.

_This is getting serious. What the hell am I thinking? I never should have done this_, a guilty voice spoke at the back of his mind. He breathed again and tried to picture on his mind the events that took place two weeks ago. It wasn't the smartest move but it paid off well.

The anxious look on his face. It was him who's the cause of that look on Tohma. The famous Seguchi Tohma. He smirked as he remembered the blonde's face. What would he do to see that look again?

"Everything…"

He opened his eyes and looked out over the magnificent city of Tokyo with its lights dancing lazily to the slow rhythm of the cold wind.

_No, this is just the right thing to do_, a tiny different voice defended derisively drowning the guilty protests of the other voice in silence.

"This is the only option I got…"

Shaking slightly, he raised his right hand slowly and looked at them intently for a long while.

_Am I ready for this?_

_Can I do this?_

He balled his hand into a fist before finally putting it down and with a last glance over the city, walked silently into his apartment.

It was dark inside the living room but you could still see the simple splendor of the place. The walls were lined with quite a few stylish paintings and the pieces of furniture were all made of fine polished wood.

After throwing a final glimpse at the living room, he proceeded to his bedroom and entered the bathroom. He turned the faucet on and splashed some water on his face. The fluid was very cold on his skin, piercing him softly as the chill seeped through his veins. Then he peered into the mirror just above the sink, it bore a very handsome man in his mid-20's. Bright cerulean eyes, under a mass of dark blue hair, stared back at him blankly.

_Who would have ever thought that I would end up this way?_ He pondered as he continued to watch himself in the mirror. For all these sixteen years all his loathing, all his hatred for Tohma had turned him into the man he's staring at now. He would have become a very different person if Tohma hadn't ruined his life; would have lived a happy life if Tohma hadn't destroyed all his dreams. He was enraged at the idea that Tohma and _that person _had managed to get away with what they had done sixteen years ago. It crushed his world. Someone very precious to him had vanished and no one even battered an eyelid about what had happened.

He washed his face once more before finally wiping it with a towel. After throwing the towel aside, he breathed deeply again and gazed at his open hand. _I had promised her that I would avenge her no matter what. And I will do anything to fulfill that promise._

He closed his eyes for a long while, but then without warning, he slammed his fist hard into the mirror. Shards and bits of glass flew everywhere and thick crimson blood start to ooze from his hand. Though he didn't fully understand why, the sensation coming from his wounded hand had somehow made him feel much alive.

His blood started to drip and fall to the sink. He looked at it as it began to flow slowly down the sides of the ceramic counter, and mixed with dregs of water, bit by bit, like little crimson flowers floating hazily on water.

He looked away from it and washed his hand quickly, then proceeded on clearing off the floor with the shattered bits of glass. Five minutes later, the phone in the living room rang. He quickly stood up and went out of the bathroom to get it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me. I got some good news for you."

He quickly recognized the voice.

"Speak."

"The target has been spotted," the caller confirmed, "He just came in this afternoon."

"Good."

There was a pause.

"So what will be our next move?" the caller asked.

He smiled to himself as he gave out the final instructions in a low voice. "You know what to do," he said, staring at the cloudy evening sky outside his apartment window. "Execute Phase 2."

--oooo0000oooo--

Tohma opened his eyes slowly, breathing deeply and wondering why he had suddenly woken up from his sleep. He stared fuzzily at the wall facing him; the room was still dark and by the looks of it, it was still the middle of the night.

He tried to remember what had stirred him to consciousness, but his mind seemed not to cooperate. Images formed sluggishly in his mind: formless black shadows chasing him as he ran across a sinister-looking forest, a cackling laugh, followed by a bright light emerging on a distance, and then voices saying words he can't understand. He can't remember the rest of the details, though he was quite sure that it was still the same dream he had been having for three days now.

He sat up slowly and looked at the digital clock on his bedside table. It read 1:32 AM.

_Damn…_

Usually, once he wakes up already, he can't go back to sleep anymore. He had been suffering insomnia since he was twenty-one. Most likely, he supposed, had started when he had changed his sleeping habits.

He slumped his head hard on his bed pillows, hoping he would be knocked unconscious by the blow, but this feat only resulted to doubling the pain in his head.

_Strike one, Tohma. What a very stupid thing to do._

Cursing under his breath, he massaged his head tenderly, and got out of the bed slowly and went for the door. He has been staying in his own apartment for three weeks now since he had that fight with Mika. Sometimes he would call her and check if everything's all right and such. And if not busy enough, visit her at the house on Sundays. Her wife would usually talk to him coldly, with the air of slight irritation. It's obvious that she still hasn't forgotten about their misunderstanding. So all in all, Tohma had no choice but to stay in his apartment.

He walked over to the kitchen and took out a can of beer from the refrigerator, then proceeded to the living room, gulping down his drink as he sank himself on the sofa facing the television. He yawned loudly and stared around his apartment.

The place was actually too big for him. It had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room and a balcony. The first time Tohma had seen this apartment in an ad, he quickly called the number posted. He had bought it almost two years ago for a fair amount of price. In fact, he didn't have a real reason for buying this pad; he just wanted to have a place to sleep in if he doesn't feel like going home, or if he's too tired to go home for that matter.

He stretched his legs and drank some more beer. Now, about this dream of his. He is really getting irritated now. He usually doesn't give a damn about dreams because he really can't understand them in the first place. But this dream he had just now, and it was also the same dream he has been having for three days straight, started to bother him. Why did he keep having the same nightmare?

He supposed that maybe it has something to do with his more pressing problems right now. Tohma doesn't really like to remember it anymore but his brain just can't seem to forget it.

Three weeks had passed since the incident at the restaurant, and nothing unusual happened since then. He suspected then that it was, after all, just a prank. But every time he thinks about it, he can't shake that familiar feeling of uncertainty and danger. It's as if someone is just nearby, watching his every move, and waiting for the chance to catch him off guard once he let his security down.

This thought has been haunting him during nights, and at times he would seriously doubt his sanity. Was he getting paranoid? Sometimes he would reason with himself rationally. Pranks are not new to him anymore; he had actually experienced quite a few of them in the past, though none of them had threatened his life. After all, the threats he had been worrying about didn't even make sense, and he was not really sure if it was all done by the same person or not.

It could be all pure coincidences, couldn't it? The call he had received preceding his car accident could have just been made by anyone. It could have been from one of their Nittle Grasper fans, or somebody from the press, or maybe even from a friend.

Tohma eased himself with these thoughts, but it still didn't answer the inevitable question that was hanging at the back of his mind:_ How about the man who gave him the card back at the restaurant? Who is he then?_ Tohma thought deeply, as he lay down on the sofa, glancing at the ceiling.

The person he saw at the restaurant was definitely a man, with bluish back hair, maybe three inches taller than him. He can't really remember the rest of the male's features since everything happened in a haze. But Tohma kept the card he had received from that anonymous person. There were instances where he would just stare at the message written on it for long minutes, questions of why and who occasionally popping out of his head, but try as he might to find reasons out of everything, the answers are always vague.

Tohma put his face into his hands. He doesn't need to worry about it anymore. He had changed his mobile number already, and it has already been three weeks. He was just thinking too much about it.

_That's right. It's nothing to worry about…_

If he wouldn't stop thinking about it, Noriko and Ryuichi might bind to notice, and he didn't want them to be involved with this anymore. It was enough that he had to bear all the questions and suspicious looks of Ryuichi after he had returned to the restaurant. Yes, this would be the last time he would think about it.

After a few more minutes of contemplating, Tohma finally got up and emptied his can of beer. He glanced at the wall clock hanging on the far side of the room: 2:20 AM.

_Damn._

He stretched his arms and ruffled his hair, then went back to his bedroom.

_Guess I have no choice but to take those goddamned sleeping pills again…_

--oooo0000oooo--

Riiinnggg!

The shrill sound of the phone was the first sound that was heard at the apartment where Sakuma Ryuichi lives.

"Coming! Coming!" Ryuichi shouted ardently as he dashed to the living room to get the phone.

"Hello?"

"Ryuichi, it's Noriko…"

"Noriko-chan!" greeted Ryuichi buoyantly, "Na, why did you call in so early?"

"Have you heard about it?" Noriko's voice sounded serious.

"Heard about what?" he asked curiously as he ate a stick of strawberry pocky.

"Satoshi… on the news," Noriko replied impatiently at the other end of the line. "Have you seen it? Turn on your TV now. It's on every channel…"

"Satoshi? Satoshi who?" Ryuichi asked bewilderedly, grabbing the remote control with his free hand and turning on the TV.

"Satoshi! Iwamoto Satoshi! Don't you remember him?" Noriko explained miserably, "He was in the same school with us…"

But Ryuichi was only half-listening to Noriko. His attention was now glued to the television.

"…As of the latest findings, it appears to be that Mr. Iwamoto had eaten poisonous food last night. He was found dead on his house's kitchen floor by one of his hired house caretakers," the reporter stated as she pointed to a house at her back. "The autopsy of Mr. Iwamoto's body has yet to be released. The police are now looking for signs of foul play, but since the autopsy is not yet available, they remained silent about the issue. I'm Sachiko Imai, Sakura News."

_Satoshi… no… it can't be… he's… he's dead?_

"Hey, Ryu, are you still there?" Noriko asked concernedly.

"Noriko, do… do you think Tohma have heard?" asked Ryuichi, his mouth had gone completely dry.

"I don't know. I haven't called him yet… I don't think I can tell him about it."

"So… so what are we supposed to do?"

They were silent for a moment. Then Noriko replied, "We'll wait. If he still doesn't know anything about it, then we pretend we haven't heard it yet."

"But…"

"Ryu, I don't think Tohma could handle the news, especially now. We'll keep it as a secret for a short while. OK, Ryu? Only for a short time."

Ryuichi didn't answer.

"Ryu?" Noriko's voice sounded far away.

Ryuichi took a deep calming breath. "OK," he finally said in a soft voice.

--oooo0000oooo--

Shuichi yawned loudly, stretching his arms widely while walking languidly towards the entrance of NG Corp. He scratched his head absentmindedly and greeted the security guard standing at the entrance doors. After the guard greeted him back, Shuichi idly entered the building and proceeded to where the elevators where located. He pushed the UP button and waited soundlessly for the elevator, yawning and scratching his head once more. After a few more minutes, its doors opened, and dragging his feet heavily along, Shuichi entered inside.

"Hey, elevator!"

Shuichi heard a voice call after him. He pressed gingerly the HOLD button and saw a blonde guy enter. It was Tohma Seguchi.

"Thanks." Tohma smiled at him.

"Uh, no problem," Shuichi said as he released the hold button. "So… er… what's your floor, Seguchi-san?"

"29th. Thanks."

Shuichi pushed both his and Tohma's floor buttons, and then waited awkwardly in silence. He watched Tohma from the corner of his eye, who, he noticed, was wearing an all-black attire: long-sleeved polo with its cuffs unbuttoned, paired tastefully with black slacks.

Shuichi never remembered seeing him dress so plainly. He knew that Tohma used to wear suits with elaborated furs and such, though, in Shuichi's opinion, the guy looked much better in simpler clothes.

_Especially black. It really brings out the color of his skin. _Shuichi thought deeply, glancing sideways. He never really paid much attention to Tohma's appearance before. Now thinking about it, he just noticed that Tohma has such a beautiful skin. He drifted his gaze to Tohma's face: bright green eyes, pink-tinged cheek, cherry red lips. God, this guy could be easily mistaken for a girl.

_Hmm… I wonder how those lips taste like._

…

_Where the hell did that thought come from?!_

Before Shuichi could deduce further what he had just thought, the doors of the elevator flew open. They had reached 29th floor.

"See you later then, Shindou-san," Tohma said to him, smiling. He stepped out of the elevator and the doors closed quickly after him.

**--**

"You're already home? This early?" Noriko's voice asked disbelievingly for the 2nd time from the other end of the line.

"I told you, Noriko, I wasn't feeling very well," Tohma explained as he opened the main door of his apartment and closed it after him.

"Are you ill or something?" she asked alarmingly.

"No, not really. I'm just having my usual migraine attacks. It's nothing, really." Tohma reassured her, walking towards the kitchen to grab a drink.

"Well, we just thought that maybe, you know, we can go out together tonight… Hang out at some place…"

"I would really love to, Noriko, but I think I need to rest early tonight," said Tohma, snatching a carton of orange juice from the fridge and pouring some into a glass.

"Oh, I see," Noriko said in a slightly depressed voice.

There was a long gaping silence. Then Tohma decided, "Well, I guess maybe you two can come over here, have a drink or two…" he said smilingly over the phone.

Tohma heard Noriko chuckle, "OK, then. Ryu and I will be there in a minute. Prepare the brandy."

--oooo0000oooo--

Noriko put her cellular phone in her pocket and then turned to Ryuichi. "I don't think he heard about it yet…"

"You sure?" Ryuichi asked anxiously.

"Well, he sounded all right and all. C'mon, we got to go," Noriko said as she stood up and walked out of the bar.

"Go where?" Ryuichi asked, sauntering behind her.

--oooo0000oooo--

Tohma clicked the TV open and rested on the sofa in the living room. He closed his eyes and tried to relax his mind. He wasn't kidding when he told Noriko that he wasn't feeling very well. He felt nauseated for some reason, and he had that awful heavy feeling in his chest.

He took a couple of deep breaths and rested for another fifteen minutes, before finally opening his eyes.

_Now, that felt better._

He now focused his attention on the news being featured on the television. It showed a car accident that happened in the freeway, a group of people on a strike, a robbery at a local store, and then a murder. The last one particularly caught his attention.

"According to the released autopsy of the police, Mr. Iwamoto was, indeed, poisoned. The chemical that was used, according to the authorities, was the toxic Ethanol in pure form that had been put into his dinner food that resulted immediately to his death…"

Tohma raised his eyebrows, the back of his head tingling weirdly, but before he could watch further, the door bell suddenly rang. He stood up hurriedly to answer it.

"Good evening, sir. We're the strippers that you hired."

Tohma smiled at them and rolled his eyes. "Italian food?" he asked, stepping aside to give way to his guests.

"I figured you haven't had dinner yet so Ryu and I decided to order some on our way here," Noriko said as she entered the apartment.

"We bought your favorites, Tohma-kun," Ryuichi said happily, holding up two bulging bags and showing it to him. He then followed Noriko to the kitchen.

Tohma chuckled and closed the door of his apartment. "You guys don't plan on letting me retire early tonight, do you?"

"Well, no… unless you come here and help me prepare these." Noriko answered loudly from the kitchen.

"OK, OK. Be right there." Tohma called to them as he walked over to the living room to turn off the television.

He picked up the remote control and was about to turn the TV off when a familiar name suddenly caught his attention.

"…was known that Iwamoto Satoshi had just come home from the United States after living there for a very long time…"

_Satoshi Iwamoto?_ He frowned as he tried to rake his memory.

The reporter continued, "The relatives of the victim had been interviewed by the authorities, but they declined, however, to give any statements to the press…"

_Satoshi Iwamoto…_

Something stirred inside Tohma.

_It can't be… I don't believe this…_

Though Tohma didn't want to consider it, his belief was confirmed when a picture of a man was flashed on the TV screen, and written below it was: _Satoshi Iwamoto, age 31._

_Oh, no… God, no…_

Tohma felt something began to burn inside his chest, and it grows more painful and painful as each second passed. He felt sick. He felt really sick…

_I can't… I don't… no…_

He was shaking all over, his sight has suddenly become blurry and along with this, his senses had become sluggishly slow in perceiving. His mind was spinning around so fast, he felt like his head was going to split into two.

"Hey, Tohma!" Noriko called as she made her way to the living room. "I thought you said you were going to help-" she stopped dead as she caught sight of Tohma, who, she saw was trembling like mad.

She looked from Tohma to the television and back, and realization swiftly dawned on her. "Oh, shit… no… Tohma…"

Noriko saw Tohma looked at her with pained disbelief on his face; he was obviously too shocked to speak.

_Damn it! Why now?!_ She can't bear it: seeing Tohma like this, looking completely lost and helpless. It's too much for her.

Tohma saw as Noriko slowly approached him.

_I…_

He then began to see things before his eyes: blurry images of Satoshi Iwamoto, flashes of reflections of something… someone…

_I…_

He shut his eyes hard to try to block the pictures he was seeing. Something inside him was screaming… He was breathing hard as though he had been running. It felt painful.

_I can't…_

He heard Noriko's voice reassuring him of something as she embraced him firmly, though he didn't really understand what she just said. Tohma's hands felt cold, his lips were numb, but his eyes were burning painfully, though not a single tear fell.

_I don't…_

And then suddenly, everything became quiet. A deafening eerie silence engulfed him and everything around him. He can't see Noriko anywhere, not even Ryuichi. He was totally surrounded by pitch black stillness. And rapidly, right before his eyes, blazes of memories began to flare from a distant. The images revolved faster and faster, and with a blinding flash, Tohma saw everything unravel once more right before him.

_This can't be true…_

--oooo0000oooo--

_It was a sunny Monday morning. Seguchi Tohma, age fourteen, was walking on the road silently. He was dressed in his black uniform, and so other few dozen boys that were walking along him toward the school. There were also some girls around, wearing the usual long-sleeved white school blouse paired with black and white checkered skirt that goes way down the knees. _

_Tohma saw that the students were all happily chatting with each other, cracking jokes, and sharing stories about their different summer escapades. Tohma ignored them and walked silently still, though he can't help but notice that some of the kids were whispering with each other and eyeing him intently. He sighed deeply and focused his gaze at the big white edifice that was looming before him. Big metallic letters on the main gates spelled:_ Shirasagi High.

_It was Tohma Seguchi's first day in his new school._

--oooo0000oooo--

_All of his classmates' eyes were upon him; some of them were murmuring and throwing glances at him, some were giggling, and some simply looked at him. He felt a little uncomfortable, though he tried to look as indifferent as he could; he didn't like getting attention that much._

"_Settle down. Settle down, people," the teacher ordered his students loudly. The kids stopped talking at once. "OK, class. I would like to introduce to you our new student," the teacher said as he wrote Tohma's name on the board. "Be nice to him, OK? He's new to Tokyo."_

_The students began whispering again with each other._

"_Introduce yourself to them, Mr. Seguchi. Go on," the teacher told him in an undertone._

_He nodded as he stepped forward in front of the class. "I'm Tohma Seguchi," he said as he bowed to them all. "Nice to meet you all."_

"_Well, Mr. Seguchi, I guess you could sit over there behind Mr. Kazuma," the teacher pointed at the empty seat at the back of the room._

_Tohma followed and walked quietly toward the empty chair at the far side of the classroom. Some of his classmates were still gazing at him as he seated himself behind the boy with glasses._

What the hell are you looking at, you idiots? _He thought bitingly to himself._

"_Well then, let's proceed to our new topic for today…" the teacher began. Tohma opened his bag and took out a notebook and a pen. He started to write but his pen wasn't working._

Damn.

_He shook the darn thing hard, trying to make it work, but it still wouldn't write._

Very nice. Way to go…

_He cursed under his breath and put his pen away. He seized his bag and ransacked it, trying to find a pencil, when a voice on his right spoke._

"_You can use this if you like," the voice said. Tohma turned to find who had spoken and saw a guy with greenish-brown hair smiling at him. He was holding out a pen._

_Tohma took the pen and looked at it for a moment, and then he smiled for the first time that day. "Thanks," he muttered to the boy._

"_No problem," the kid replied. Then he held out his hand to Tohma, "I believe I haven't introduced myself?" Tohma reached for his hand and shook it._

"_I'm Sakuma Ryuichi. Nice to meet you."_

--oooo0000oooo--

"_You seem to adapt well to Tokyo, don't you?" Ryuichi asked Tohma enthusiastically one afternoon; he was across the table, taking a bite of his sandwich. _

_It was their break time and both of them were in the cafeteria, eating their lunch. It has already been a week since Tohma had transferred to their school, and both of them had become good friends since._

"_Guess so…" Tohma replied shortly, biting off a French fry while writing down some notes on his notebook._

_There was a momentary quiescence between them. Tohma paused and stopped at what he was doing, and glanced at Ryuichi, who he saw was looking like he was contemplating deeply while staring at something outside the window._

_Tohma sensed it coming…_

"_You know, you're awfully quiet for someone who's popular," Ryuichi began in an innocent tone._

I knew it would come.

"_Don't start with me, Ryu," Tohma warned, returning to his notes._

"_No, really," Ryuichi protested. "I mean, how come you didn't even answer a single letter from the ones you had received-"_

"_Ryuichi," he cut in, still poring over his notebook. "I didn't come and study here in Tokyo just to answer letters."_

_There was another pause._

"_Kumiko Hideyoshi is not that ugly, you know," Ryuichi began once more. There was a hint of someone close to bursting to laughter in his voice. He continued, "I know her eyes are awfully creepy, but aside from that, she's OK."_

"_Sakuma Ryuichi," Tohma said, finally tearing himself away from his notebook and staring straightly at his friend's eyes. "How many times did we have this conversation?"_

"_Er… maybe a couple… uh, no… five… er… I've lost count."_

"_See?" Tohma explained warily. "We've gone through this for so many times I think I'm gonna be sick." He said, going back to his notes._

"_So you don't believe her?" Ryuichi asked jokingly._

"_What?"_

"_You know, when a guy picks up a lady's hankie that means the guy was proposing to her?"_

_  
"No way. That's crap," said Tohma stiffly._

_And crap it is. Tohma still had to painfully endure people because of what had happened three days ago, and Ryuichi reminding him of it didn't help either. Everything was still agonizingly fresh on Tohma's mind._

_He was walking peacefully that morning, taking the usual way to school. When he reached the campus grounds though, he saw a schoolmate, who was walking ahead of him, dropped something on the ground. Tohma hesitated for a moment, but picked it up._

_It was a white handkerchief embroidered with intricate patterns and shapes. The name _Kumiko _was written on the corner._

"_Hey, wait!" Tohma called to the girl as he ran towards her. "I think you dropped this."_

_The girl turned to him. She has short bushy brown hair and big puffy eyes. Scary big puffy eyes._

_Tohma smiled reluctantly and handed her the hankie, but she didn't make any move to get it. She just stood there and ogled at him like a stunned goldfish, her eyes traveling from Tohma's face to the cloth in his hand._

"_Er… is something wrong?" Tohma asked her apprehensively._

_She didn't reply; she just continued to gaze at Tohma like she has never seen something like him before. _

"_Are you ok?" Tohma asked her again._

"_I…" she croaked silently, bowing her head slightly down so her bangs covered her face._

"_I…"_

_Tohma leaned closer to her so that he would be able to understand her, but then, without warning, she grabbed Tohma's hand, and looking as though she had swallowed a pellet of rat poison, burst into joyful noisy tears. She said in a very loud voice that Tohma was sure could be heard throughout the whole campus,_

"_I DO!!"_

_Everybody on the campus grounds stopped dead on their tracks and stared at both of them. Tohma was so shocked he took a step backward. He was starting to feel hot in the face as he felt everybody's eyes on him, and his embarrassment was doubled up as he realized that the girl was still holding his hand._

_He tried to pull his hand back but this act just made the girl held it more tightly and worse, brought it closer to her chest._

"_What-are-you-doing?!" Tohma whispered to her, disbelieving, trying to find sense at what the girl was doing._

"_I said I do. I accept it," the girl replied happily in the same loud voice._

"_Accept what?" Tohma noticed that the audience around them began to thick._

"_Well, you proposed to me, right? So, I'm telling you now that I do accept it." She was genuinely blushing in the face, but it was nothing next to Tohma whose face was now glowing furiously red. _

_It took ten horrible excruciating seconds before her words had sunk in into Tohma's sanity._

"_I DID WHAT?!"_

_And the rest of the incident happened in a blur. The two of them were taken to the office of the Prefect of Discipline to explain the racket that the girl had made after Tohma refused point blank to agree with the said marriage proposal._

"_I swear, I didn't know what it meant!" he protested angrily to the prefect of discipline. "I was only trying to help!"_

"_But it is in our family tradition that if a guy pick up the dropped handkerchief of a lady, it means that you're proposing to her. And you did it, and I said yes. So you need to marry me!" Kumiko explained miserably between large sobs._

"_Yeah, in the next fifty years, I will."_

"_Mr. Seguchi!" the prefect burst out incredulously._

"_How… how could you say something like that?" Kumiko cried dramatically, wiping off her tears with her white hankie._

_Tohma looked at her with raised eyebrows. He was very tempted to roll his eyes, though he considered that it wasn't a very good idea to test the prefect's temper._

"_Mr. Seguchi and Ms. Hideyoshi," the prefect began with a firm voice, "I want to end this ridiculous drama already. You two made a big scene in front of the whole school today-"_

"_It wasn't my fault!" Tohma interjected heatedly._

"_So-" the prefect continued in a much louder voice, looking as though he didn't hear Tohma, "I want both of your parents here tomorrow morning. Do you two understand me?"_

"_Yes, sir," the girl replied softly. Tohma, however, didn't answer._

"_Mr. Seguchi, did you understand what I just said?"_

"_My parents are not here," Tohma said in a low voice._

"_Pardon?"_

"_My parents are not here," Tohma repeated stridently. "They're out on a business trip to the U.S."_

"_How about your guardian?" the prefect inquired sharply._

"_I'll tell my aunt to come here," replied Tohma coldly._

"_Very well, now that it is all settled, you two are dismissed. You may go back to your respected class," The prefect told them finally._

_Tohma was the first one to go out of the room. He walked briskly away from the prefect's office, not looking back even once._

"_What are you so furious about? It was actually hilarious, you know," Ryuichi spoke again, bringing Tohma back from his track of thoughts._

"_Yeah, quite hilarious," Tohma grunted as he returned to his notes. Ryuichi simply sniggered and took another another bite of his sandwich._

"_Hi, Ryuichi-kun. How have you been doing?" a female voice greeted them suddenly._

_Tohma looked up and saw a pretty girl with curly ash-blue hair. She was beaming at both of them._

"_Hey, Risa," Ryuichi replied cheerfully, "I'm fine. And you?"_

"_Never better," she replied smilingly._

"_Oh yeah, let me introduce to you my friend. Risa, this is Seguchi Tohma. Tohma, this is Mori Risa," said Ryuichi._

"_Hi," Tohma said quietly._

"_She was my classmate last year," Ryuichi told Tohma._

"_Oh, so you're the famous Seguchi Tohma?" Risa asked, faking a surprised look. She settled herself beside Tohma. "So you're the one who turned down the poor Kumiko and made her cry," she said teasingly, moving closer to him._

_Tohma said nothing and continued to write on his notebook._

"_Well, I couldn't blame you. I guess she didn't pass your taste," she told Tohma, moving closer to him still until she was shoulder to shoulder with him. Tohma, however, chose to remain silent._

"_But don't worry. There are plenty of other girls who are far more beautiful than that ugly tub of lard," Risa said to him seductively, completely dismissing the fact that Ryuichi was still with them and that they were inside the cafeteria packed with other people._

"_Girls that can make you very _very_ happy," she finally whispered to him, putting a hand on top of the notebook he was working on._

What the hell…?

_Tohma looked at Ryuichi with raised eyebrows. His friend merely shrugged in return. Tohma heaved a deep sigh and turned to Risa, who was now clinging into his arm like a snake._

"_Ano… Rika-san?" Tohma began, smiling at her._

_Risa looked at him with anticipation. "Yes?"_

"_Er… Ryu and I need to go," Tohma said in a rush. He picked up his notebook and stood up, freeing himself from the girl's grip._

"_See yah 'round," Ryuichi called back to her, sneering, as he followed Tohma out of the cafeteria. _

_Risa was left alone at the table, looking thoroughly perplexed, as she pursued Tohma with her eyes. After a minute or so, she stood up and stormed out of the cafeteria too._

_And then, from a distant, a few good meters away from where Tohma and Ryuichi had been sitting earlier, a pair of hazel-brown eyes stared at the cafeteria door to where the two had just disappeared. He had been watching them for a while now, and to tell the truth, he was pretty amused with newly-transferred student._

--oooo0000oooo--

_Tohma was currently marching his way home. School had just ended and Ryuichi had to stay in school for a couple more hours to attend a club meeting, so Tohma had no choice but to walk alone. He ambled discreetly on the sidewalk, and then turned to the next street._

"_Are you really sure he walks here?"_

"_I told you, I see him walk here everyday."_

"_Why isn't he here yet, then?"_

"_Maybe he took some other routes?"_

"_Hey, I see someone coming! Oh, wait… yes… yes, it's him!"_

"_I told you he walks here."_

_Tohma yawned and then turned to the next narrower street on his right, but he found his way blocked by two big men. Tohma looked at them. They were students; they were actually wearing the same uniform as he is. In fact, they were his schoolmates, only older than him._

_And then another two guys appeared behind his back. They were also gigantic, and they all closed in on Tohma like mad towering vultures._

"_So this is the Seguchi brat everyone's talking about?" one of the guys asked skeptically. "He is only skin and bones! What a waste!" and they all roared with laughter._

_Tohma didn't say anything._

"_Are you too scared to say something, blondie?" the other guy taunted. "Ooh… blondie is too scared," the guy continued in a baby voice, "Ooh… blondie's going to run and tell his mommy…"_

_They all laughed loudly again._

_Tohma still didn't say anything._

"_What? Speak up!" the guy on Tohma's right ordered piercingly. "Aren't you going to say something?"_

_Tohma only looked at him._

"_Stop staring at me like that, kid," he said, cracking his knuckles in a menacing way._

_But Tohma didn't avert his gaze from the man._

"_I said stop staring!" the guy warned, raising his big fists, "Or I swear I'll punch you!" _

_Tohma smirked at him._

_The guy lost his temper and lunged forward, clutching Tohma at the collar of his uniform. He pushed him hard against a wall._

"_Now, now, Kuma," a voice spoke from behind the guy who grabbed him, "Is that a way to treat new students?"_

_The guy named Kuma released him and retreated a few steps back, but he was still looking wrathfully at Tohma._

"_Sorry," the newcomer said apologetically to Tohma. "My friend here has a short temper, you see. So you have to forgive him," he added, grinning._

"_Who are guys? What do you want from me?" Tohma asked finally, directing his gaze to the fifth guy._

_But the new guy chose not to answer him. He merely looked at Tohma like he was amused at something Tohma can't see._

_But Tohma promised himself since the time he enrolled in his new school that he wouldn't let himself be pushed around by bullies, so he gave them his look of most loathing and engaged himself in a staring match against their apparent leader._

_Tohma observed though, that the newcomer looked nothing like his friends. He was smaller than them, but he was still much taller than Tohma. The guy has a pair of beautiful hazel eyes and his flowing dark-brown hair seemed to stick out at odd angles. Although he, Tohma noticed, was very good-looking, he still had that impression on his face that he is someone not to cross._

Why do all people have to act like total jerks?

_And then, without really expecting it, Tohma heard the guy spoke, "So you're the Seguchi kid everyone's talking about," he said, smirking sarcastically. "Nice to meet you. I'm Iwamoto Satoshi."_

--o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**- End of Track 05 -**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o--

June 11, 2006

**Author's Notes:**

Can you believe this? Chapter four done? I must have eaten something weird. Weeellll, anyway, as you can see I have trimmed down this chapter to make it a little shorter. The original plan was that this would end when Tohma would be shocked dead by Satoshi's conditions, and that would be the cliffhanger of the century. XD So I have no choice but to include that cliffhanger in chapter five, because the raw manuscript of this chapter reached 32 pages already. And it's long. And yeah, I ran out of papers.

I've gone through this chapter several times, trying my best to correct errors and typos. So if you have seen anymore of them, just tell me, OK? This one is a tad longer than chapter three, and less humorous than the previous one. But this is where all the fun comes in. I promise you that chapter five would be full of twist and teen angst and humor, and people would fall in love with each other. Hahahaha! Why am I giving out so many hints?

Forgive me if I made Tohma act like a total biting badass. I'm just fulfilling what Ryuichi said on chapter three. The part where: _He missed the stubborn, semi-loud kid he met almost 16-years ago. Who would ever imagine that the tough, new-transferred teen in their school with that solid belief in everything he did will end up as a mild soft-spoken president of one of the largest companies ever built? Ryuichi remembered when he first met him; he rarely saw him smile, and he seemed aloof and avoided people all the time. And he also remembered that historical school incident involving Tohma, and the amount of rumors it has produced over a short period of time… blah blah blah._

That historical school incident isn't the handkerchief incident. That's the cliffhanger that I'm talking about. I'm so showering you with spoilers. Haha. Reviews would be pretty much helpful. I would really really love you if you review. I just wanted to know how well I am doing with this fic, what are the parts that are far-fetched, unbelievable, etc. etc.

As you can see, I am now developing the would-be relationship of Shuichi and Tohma. I don't know if it sounds believable in this chapter, but I have reserved a whole arc of that developing relationship on the latter chapters. Also, about the kidnapping thingy, I have thought of a plot already and decided to continue it further up to the part where Shuichi would be broken, because uh… I'll shut up now.

The next chapter would be all in italic, because, uh, well, it's Tohma's memory. The name of the school was only made up by me. Everything not in the manga nor the anime was created by me. They're mine. Satoshi's mine. Earlier chapters were also edited to remove typos and errors I have so painfully spotted.

Thank you for all the read and the reviews. I'll start with the next chapter soon. Hugs to all! ;-)

Edited on April 21, 2008


	5. Track 05: He Falls

**Title:** Fury

**Summary: **Tohma's high school life seemed to be going pretty well, but when an unfortunate incident happened between him and a famous girl in their school, his life had taken a complete turn. Unknown to him, the worst is yet to come.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gravitation… yadda yadda yadda… XD

**Notes: **Tohma's past including some characters involved in his memory that weren't in the anime nor in the manga were written and only made by me. Familiarity with the anime would be helpful. ;-) Again, forgive any grammatical errors. Just my first fic.

--o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**-**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o--

Track 05: **He Falls**

"Well, we'll be going then."

"..."

"Don't get into too much trouble, ne?"

"Yeah..."

"..."

_Tokyo Airlines Flight 226 to New York is now in the final boarding process, t_hey heard the voice in the speakers say.

"You take care now, ok?"

"Hai, 'ka-san," he said softly as he stared glumly on the floor.

Tohma knew that his parents would have to leave him eventually. That he cannot make them stay even after moving to Japan. He was told that his mother and father was doing all of this for him, for his sake, and that he should not selfishly ask for them to be with him. He's already ten, and he believed boys of his age should not cry over small matters like this. He would be terribly laughed at...

Tohma pulled himself together and smiled. He promised himself that he would not be sad on this day. He needed to be strong, and not rely on others for help. He would not let anyone worry about him, especially his parents. Especially his mother.

_I guess things don't happen as easily as we want to._

"It's ok, mom. I will be alright," Tohma told his mother as he gave her his biggest smile.

He saw his mom smiled back at him as she kneeled over and hugged him tightly. Tohma could feel her tears flowing on his shoulders and wetting his shirt.

"I know you will," he heard his mom whisper to him. "Because you're Tohma, ne?"

Tohma nodded gently as her mother released him and kissed him on the forehead. Staying in Japan for good was his decision, yet here he was, contemplating whether he was doing the right thing or not. His mother believed in him when he told her about his plans on studying in Tokyo a long time ago, however his excuses sounded pathetic even to his own ears.

_No. There's no turning back._

Tohma heard her mother gave her last instructions to her aunt behind him. She bid them farewell and walked silently towards the boarding gates.

"Let's go home now, Tohma-kun," he heard his aunt say to him.

"Yeah..." Tohma said, but did not move from his place. He did not avert his gaze away from the gates where his mom disappeared into.

Tohma believed that his parents loved him more than anything else, and that he should also try to do his best in all the things he do. He accepted way before the past that he can't make them stay. He knew that they would have to leave eventually. He knew all these. He knew all along. And yet...

He felt the weight of the sadness finally crushed down on his chest. He can't breathe. Even so, he drew all his strength and called for his mom. He shouted at the top of his lungs as he reached out to the empty space before him, but still, his mom would not come.

He can't breathe.

--oooo0000oooo--

_Tohma stirred and opened his eyes lazily._

Yume?

_He blinked a few more times as his eyes adjusted to the dim light of his bed room. _

But it felt so real.

_Tohma stretched his arms and yawned widly. He looked at his wristwatch and fought a sigh. It's just 5:30 in the morning. He turned his gaze to the open window on his side and saw the steel-gray clouds hovering in the sky. The sun has not yet risen._

_It was still 3 hours before school but he decided not to go to sleep anymore, since there's a big chance that he'll doze off more than the time he can spare, and that would eventually lead to another tardy remark staining his already miserable report card. His parents will be rolling in their sleep if they ever found out of the past incidents Tohma has been involved with._

_He scrambled out of bed and proceeded lazily to the bathroom. He rubbed his eyes gingerly as he turned on the sink and washed his face. He thought that the cool water felt unusually good on his warm skin, refreshing his whole body. He wiped his face with a towel, then peeped into the mirror in front of him. He noticed that he looked paler than usual._

Paler, no. More like out of blood if you put it.

_Tohma sighed inwardly and opened the medicine cabinet behind the mirror. He took the thermometer out and put it in his mouth. He reached and felt for his forehead and noticed that he is, after all, a tad warmer than normal. He had been feeling a little unusual for over a week now. He felt weak for some reason, and it took more than his usual effort to do his everyday activities. He had been monitoring his temperature since last week, and it disturbingly showed an escalating change. His latest take yesterday was 37 degrees._

_Tohma breathed deeply and returned to his bedroom, still sporting the thermometer in his mouth. He lay back down to his bed once more and closed his eyes to recall his dream. The face of his mother. Her sad eyes. _

_It has been 4 years since his parents left him under the care of his relatives. It was Tohma's decision to move and live in Japan. He preferred his mother's country than California. And besides, he has relatives here that would take care of him. He liked it better than living alone abroad, even though he was born in the U.S. and was raised there._

___His father was half-French, half-American, and his mother was pure Japanese. They all have been living overseas as far as he can remember and they haven't got any permanent address not until he was 9 years-old. His parents thought that it would be good for him to live permanently in one place so that he could establish good relationships with kids of his age, and make friends in the process._

_It was due to the nature of his parents' work that they all had to travel frequently. And since he was still too young back then, his parents opted to take him to their trips because he still can't live all alone by himself, even if he has a guardian to watch over him. But it was not until recently that he decided that he should become independent and live on his own. _

_After finishing middle school in their hometown Osaka, Tohma decided and informed his aunt that he would go and study in Tokyo when he gets to high school. Even though his parents did not approve of it, they had no choice but to give in eventually after Tohma explained to them thoroughly. Tohma believed that he could handle himself well, even if he's too young to live independently. He had been raised to live like that._

_And so, after his parents and aunt agreed, Tohma was given a unit all to himself. It was fairly large for a single person, unlike the ones you usually see in some common newspaper ad. It had one big bedroom, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. And all of the stuffs and appliances he needed were already provided for him when he moved there. Ryuichi even exclaimed once when he stayed in Tohma's unit for the night that his condo was too much for a 14 year-old snob like him: "Wow, Tohma! I didn't know you were a rich punk!" Ryuichi exclaimed as he gaped at Tohma's apartment with wide-looking eyes._

_Tohma heaved a sigh and took the thermometer out of his mouth. He squinted his eyes as he looked at the numbers above where the mercury reached._

_37.3°C_

_Tohma frowned and rechecked the reading. It was definitely 37.3°C._

But that's borderline febrile!

_Tohma felt for his forehead again. It sure is warm. If this keeps up, he might develop a fever. He can't afford to get sick now, not with the midterms getting near and all. He even promised Ryuichi that he would help him with the subjects that he's having a hard time with._

_Tohma sat up and contemplated whether to go to school or not. He vaguely remembered something like this occurred to him when he was a kid. A series of disturbances happened with his body before his asthma attacks. Their family doctor said that it would most likely happen anytime again in the future, so his parents were advised to keep him away from things that trigger his attacks like smoke, stress, pollens, and some certain allergens. _

This might just be the weather.

_Tohma yawned and got up from his bed. His instincts told him to stay at home and skip school for a day, but his stubborn self would not relent and kept telling his mind that staying at home and doing nothing would probably do him no good. He really wasn't feeling sick; it's just that his body has a mind of its own and would not cooperate. No contest, he decided to damn all his doubts to hell and started to get ready for school._

_Tohma went back to the bathroom and stared at his reflection on the mirror. "Really..." he said as he smiled bleakly to himself. "What could possibly go wrong?"_

--oooo0000oooo--

_There are already a lot of students walking their way to their respective classrooms when Tohma reached the campus grounds. He yawned loudly as he entered the school gates. It was 7:30am in his wrist watch when he left his condominium. He typically walks to school and it usually takes him more or less 20 minutes to reach the main entrance._

_Tohma ruffled his hair as he swiftly went to the lockers to change his shoes. He found more students scattered in the area when he reached it. He opened his locker and was in the act of changing his shoes when he saw a white envelope in the corner inside._

Another one.

_Tohma discreetly took the envelope and slipped it inside his school bag. After putting on his school shoes, he proceeded to the hallway and climbed the stairs up to the 4__th__ floor where his classroom was located. When he reached the 4__th__ floor, however, he saw numerous girls huddled in the corner and appeared as though they're looking for someone._

Weren't they supposed to be located a floor down?

_But it didn't took Tohma long enough to find the reason why the girls of the higher years looked restless. The cause was standing and reading something at the bulletin board a few good meters from his classroom._

Well, what do you know? If it isn't the devil himself. _Tohma thought tartly as he stared, nonchalantly, to the figure that seemed to draw a ton of attention._

_Tohma raised his eyebrows and continued to walk towards his classroom. It's been like 3 weeks since Satoshi Iwamoto introduced himself to him. He surely thought that his upperclassman would pick a fight with him during that day they met, but surprisingly enough, after Satoshi acquainted himself to him, he and his comrades left him without a word. _

_He braced himself the next day after that incident, thinking that Satoshi and his gang might have planned something against him, but he thought wrong. It seemed that Satoshi only wanted his existence to be known to Tohma, and he couldn't think of the reason why he needed to do that. _

_Naturally, Tohma researched about Satoshi's background and saw that he, even though he doesn't look like it, is an excellent student with exceptional grades. He discovered that Satoshi's parents were also living overseas and that he lived alone, too, just like him. _

_Many people, though prefers to keep their distance from Satoshi since they knew that he befriends odd people and that he has this aura about him that keeps him mysteriously isolated. Some people claimed they saw Satoshi frequent some unusual parts in Shibuya with some bizarre-looking people__**, **__but Tohma supposed that it was just a rumour since he, himself, also visit Shibuya from time to time and he never seen Satoshi, least any of his schoolmate there._

_Tohma continued to walk casually towards his classroom and was just about a few feet away from it when he saw Satoshi, who now seemed finished reading the bulletin board, was walking haughtily towards his way. Tohma did his best to make his expression blank. _

_He was about to enter the classroom when he heard a whisper on his back, "Don't you feel lucky today?"_

_Tohma stopped on his tracks and looked calmly at Satoshi who just singly passed by him without a backward glance. He followed with his gaze the retreating back of his upperclassman, who was now turning a corner to the stairs that leads to the 3__rd__ floor. Tohma frowned and entered the classroom. He proceeded towards his desk at the back and sat on the chair._

What was that all about?

_And here, he thought that Satoshi considered him nothing but a mirage after they met 3 weeks ago. Why the hell he only talks to him now, eh?_

"_What a weird guy," Tohma mumbled to himself as he opened his bag and took the white envelope out. He eyed the people inside the classroom and made sure that no one's looking at his way. He glanced at his side and saw the desk beside him unoccupied: Ryuichi has not come yet._

_Tohma ripped open the envelope and took out the letter and read it. It was written on the same pink stationery and contained a poem and a post script._

It sure is the same person, _Tohma thought as he read the poem._

_He'd been receiving letters for the past 2 weeks containing different poems and stuffs. He didn't really care and has no idea who was sending them to him, but it eventually became a habit for him to read the letters every morning. And besides, among the many ones he'd been receiving, the one in the same white envelope always interests him. _

_Tohma raised his eyebrows as he finished reading the poem, but his confusion doubled when he read the post script._

_Let's meet at the empty music room during lunch time. I'll be waiting for you. H.M._

_Tohma didn't have the time to contemplate over the letter because he saw Ryuichi enter the classroom. Tohma hastily stuffed the letter inside his bag and greeted his friend a good morning._

--oooo0000oooo--

"_Where are you going?" Ryuichi asked Tohma as he set his chair beside the desk of his 2 other classmates who were supposed to be joining them for lunch._

"_I just needed to get something," Tohma replied as he stretched his arms and started walking towards the classroom doors._

"_Oh c'mon, Tohma boy. You didn't need to be secretive with us," Atsushi said as he sat on one of the 4 chairs that were circling the 3 desks where they were supposed to have their lunch._

"_I'm not doing anything illegal, ok?" Tohma reassured them as he reached the doors. "Go start without me. I'll be back in minutes."_

_He disappeared into the hallway and turned into the corner. He took out the letter from his pocket. According to it, they were supposed to meet at the music room on the 2__nd__ floor. It was already 11:30 a.m. on his wrist watch. He wasn't really sure when are they supposed to meet since there's no specific time written on the letter. Tohma decided that he'll wait for 20 minutes and leave if the sender of the letter will not show up._

_Tohma stuffed the letter back in his pocket as he hopped down the stairs that lead to the 2__nd__ floor. He reached the corridor and saw that there are not much students on hallway. He also noticed that most of them belong to the higher year, and were either busy chatting with each other or simply passing by._

_He travelled the lengthy corridor and after a minute of searching, found the music room and entered it. There was no one inside it yet as he closed the sliding door behind him. The room was bathed with sunlight that filtered through the windows, warming the walls and ceilings. There were chairs lined neatly across the whole room, and a big acoustic piano was located at the front along with some other musical instruments._

_Tohma walked his way towards the piano and appreciated its magnificence; it has a luxurious black gloss and reflected light beautifully__**. **__He smoothly run his fingers along the piano keys and smiled to himself. He remembered that his mother used to teach him to play the piano when they still lived in the U.S. He hasn't played it for a long while now; he just hopes that he would still be able to play it decently. He pushed several notes slickly but stopped when he heard the door of the music room open._

_Tohma saw a pretty girl enter the room casually. He glanced at her curiously and met her gaze. He was sure that he has seen this girl before._

She must be the one that the guys in our class were talking about.

_Tohma vaguely remembered Ryuichi mentioning that she's quite popular among the upperclassmen because she was easy to talk to. He continued to stare at her as the girl approached him steadily._

"_Well, hi!" she greeted as she beamed brightly to Tohma. "I'm Haruka Minase of 3-E, the one who's been writing to you the letters with the poems."_

_But Tohma did nothing but gaped at her continuously. He was not really sure what to do in situations like this._

"_So, what do you think?" Haruka asked as she approached him and marched around him, examining and observing him closely._

"_Of what?" Tohma asked as he followed Haruka with his gaze, whom he saw was still busy analyzing his features. Somehow, Tohma really felt uncomfortable about this whole thing._

"_The letters."_

"_Well, I don't know really," Tohma confessed honestly. _

Well, at least I think you're not the type to write poems_, Tohma thought to himself._

She ain't bad_, Tohma contemplated as he observed her more closely. _She could easily pass as an actress if given the chance. _Bright green eyes, long black hair clumped together in great big curls, good height, and a nice body to boot. _She's really pretty. In fact, too pretty it's criminal.

_And for one crazy moment, Tohma considered entering a relationship with her. What then will the whole school think? To be able to walk with her after school, spending time eating dinner, or simply watching movies._

Well, I mean, in spite of everything I'm still a guy.

_He knew he promised his parents to behave well after giving him the permission to live alone, but did they really expect for him to behave like a good boy all the time? He's a healthy 14 year-old male after all and he had natural urges too. Tohma sighed inwardly and mentally slapped himself for thinking such perverted thoughts. He can't afford to get nosebleeds now, can he?_

_But then again, how good it would feel to see the jealous faces of his friends, especially Ryuichi, when they discover that he's dating the hottest girl in school? He snickered silently as he imagined Ryuichi's face._

"_I see," Haruka said, distracting Tohma from his thoughts. She kept silent for a whole minute and did nothing but look Tohma in the eyes. Tohma could feel a tic throbbing in his left eyelid._

"_Anyway, what do you think about me?" Haruka finally said with an air of someone being superior._

_Tohma frowned slightly. "Well, honestly, you're pretty," he said as a matter-of-factly, leaning back on the piano behind him._

_Haruka did not say anything but just smirked sarcastically as she seated herself on one of the chairs on the front rows. She rested her elbow on the desk as she set her cheek on her palm, staring unblinkingly at Tohma sporting that somewhat new smug smile on her face. Her leer strongly reminded of Tohma of a certain someone who also has the habit of wearing that kind of attitude on his face. And that certain person also happens to love whispering random phrases on people's back, like what happened this morning._

_Tohma stared back at her with raised eyebrows. "What?" he blurted out finally, giving up the staring competition with Haruka._

"_Is that all you can say about me?" Haruka asked half-laughingly._

"_Well, what do you want me to say?" Tohma replied, seriously confused now._

"_Nothing in particular, really," she said as she stretched her arms indifferently. "It's just that you haven't dated any girl before, have you?" she added in a tone that Tohma didn't like._

"_Well, I'm just 14, you see," Tohma explained in an uncaring voice. "I don't think it's _that_ unusual."_

"_Wow, you mean my guess is right?" Haruka said, laughing openly this time. Tohma felt a vein throbbing in his temple, though his expression remained flat. He didn't really like the feel of being teased by someone especially a girl, even if it's just for a joke. He feels that he's being made fun of, and he seriously didn't like that._

"_Geez... You're so transparent," Haruka sneered as she flicked her hair gracefully with her hand._

"_Never mind that," Tohma said flatly. He's been liking the situation less and less by the minute, and besides, he felt hungry and he wanted to go back to his classroom already. "What did you call me here for?"_

"_You mean you don't know?"_

"_Obviously I don't, that's why I'm asking you," Tohma retorted exasperatedly before he can stop himself._

Shimata.

_Tohma looked and saw that Haruka had her eyebrows raised at him._

Must have been my mild fever talking, _he thought as he inhaled deeply. His anger threshold seemed to have hit an all time low these past few days. Ryuichi even pointed out that to him because his friend was able to personally experience his moods when Tohma accidentally vented out his anger to him once. Ryuichi reminded him to try and control his temper because it would be bad if he directed his anger again to innocent bystanders, even if it's unintentional. _

_Ryuichi's reminders rang loudly in Tohma's ears, making him feel roughly like a female teenager experiencing PMS. He inhaled a few more calming breaths and pulled himself together. He then cleared his throat and said in a much more gentle voice, "What I mean is, I have an idea. Somehow..."_

_Haruka stood from her the chair and faced Tohma. She sighed deeply and laughed to herself softly._

"_Well, since you don't know, I'm going to spell it out for you," she said in a loud but calm voice._

Yeah well, please do.

"_You're my boyfriend starting today," she declared loudly as she pointed a finger at Tohma and posed as she were to invade Poland._

_A long silence encompassed both of them._

"_Well?!" Haruka asked after a few moments, her irritation clearly visible this time._

"_Well what?"_

"_Why don't you say anything?" Haruka asked, looking annoyed. _

"_Well, I was waiting for the punchline," Tohma responded seriously._

_Haruka frowned at him. "I see," she said to herself, smiling. "You're transfer student to this school so you probably don't know."_

"_Yeah, enlighten me," Tohma whispered to himself as he followed Haruka with his eyes as she marched tyrannically in front of him._

"_Let me explain to you then."_

"_I am Haruka Minase, 17 years-old, 3 years-in-a-row-winner of the Shibuya Teen Idol search, featured once in the famous magazine Pop!, and a rising young star and a commercial model. That is who I am."_

"_Wow," Tohma said flatly as he sat lazily on a chair located near the piano. "But what's that got to do with me?" _

_Tohma realized how much of jerk he sounded just now, but didn't care any less. It was Haruka who started treating him rudely, and he's no martyr as to let her just have her way. He never imagined that their conversation would stray this far away. It's weird to see that such a pretty person like Haruka could treat other people like garbage._

"_Let's fill that gaping ignorance, shall we?" Haruka stated proudly as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I am a pop star, and I need all the help I can to promote that image. And one form of that help is having a partner with the same level as I am... Or if not," she further added with a suggestive glance at Tohma, "a step lower is fine with me."_

Should I feel lucky?

_There was another long pause, in which Haruka, who was looking really pissed off by Tohma's apathy, gave him her biggest scowl._

"_Aren't you going to say something?!" Haruka asked loudly._

"_I thought you weren't finished talking yet," Tohma answered honestly._

"_Are you trying to be funny? 'Cause if so, it's not working!"_

"_No, it's just that this whole boyfriend thing is a bit out-of-my-league," Tohma explained calmly._

_Haruka raised her eyebrows at him._

"_I'm currently pretty busy with more important things in my life now to be bothered with other things that I have no concern about," he added nonchalantly, looking at Haruka hard in the eyes._

"_What could be more important than this?! Surely you're tired being a nerd?"_

Wow. She's heartless.

"_Well, you know, important things like trying not to be obnoxious and shallow like asking unreasonable things to people I've just met," Tohma said without hesitation as, this time, he was not holding back anymore._

"_Yeah, it looks like you're pretty busy being a jerk."_

"_No, I'm currently busy washing my hair," Tohma said loudly as he stretched his arms, looking disinterested. "So, if you'll excuse me. It's been like 10 minutes since the last time I washed my hair."_

_Tohma slowly stood up from the stool he was sitting. He sensed that it's about time to end their pointless conversation before it could get any nastier. Besides, both of them seemed to dislike each other now, and he thought that Haruka is still a girl after all. _He's not that ruthless. _He knew he still have to respect women at all cost, even if they treated him harshly. _

Well, there are exceptions, though.

"_Do you know how many guys are willing to kill just to be in your place?!" Haruka shouted angrily._

"_Yeah, I can imagine." Tohma shouted back as he ambled calmly towards the door._

Geez. This school is infested with deranged psychopaths.

"_You're going to regret this!" Tohma heard Haruka further shouted to his back._

"_What's that?" he asked innocently, without turning around. And as he grabbed the handle of the door of the music room, he heard ripping noises from his back. Curious, Tohma finally turned around to see what Haruka was doing, but regretted it immediately after he saw Haruka ran towards his way, with her clothes torn in some parts, grabbed his uniform's collar and pulled him forward, both of them plunging together aimlessly to his latest nightmare._

--oooo0000oooo--

"_Tohma's food is getting cold," Ryuichi said as he stared longingly at the lunch box that was lying quietly on the desk in front of him._

"_Yeah, and you should leave it alone," Shiori Naruse said coldly to Ryuichi as he pored over the manga he was reading._

"_Hey, why don't we go to the arcade later after school?" Atsushi Suhara suggested as he lazily rocked back and forth on his chair._

"_You're awfully enthusiastic for someone who gets easily beaten in arcade games," Shiori mumbled over the top of his book._

"_You only got lucky the last time," Atsushi said defensively to Shiori. "But next time, I won't definitely lose!" he added as he slammed down his fist on the desk loudly._

_Ryuichi looked at both of his friends and smiled. Shiori and Atsushi have been hanging around him and Tohma since the start of the new semester. Ryuichi knew that Shiori and Atsushi both have the reputation of engaging in dangerous things and are only rarely seen to hang around with their other classmates. So it came as a real surprise to Ryuichi when they started befriending him and Tohma. Ryuichi supposed that they wanted to expand their circle of friends, so both he and Tohma agreed to make friends with them since Shiori and Atsushi have the same interest as them, and they are really really funny when you get to know them._

_Ryuichi was rather uncertain at first, unsure of Shiori and Atsushi's intentions for getting near them. But Tohma told him that he can't help but trust the two because he feels at ease with them even if they were just simple classmates before. And besides, it would be merrier if they were able to meet and gain new friends._

_Ryuichi's stomach grumbled lazily as he fixed his eyes on Tohma's lunch set. He gulped longingly as he slowly reached out for it._

"_Leave the poor Tempura alone, Ryuichi," Shiori said as he eyed him warily with raised eyebrows._

_Ryuichi opened his mouth to respond but was immediately cut off by a muffled scream that seemed to echo from the grounds._

_Ryuichi looked at his friends, giving them a puzzling look, but Shiori and Atsushi just shrugged their shoulders in response. Ryuichi stood from his chair, walked his way towards the door, and poked his head outside. He saw that students from other class had come out of their classrooms to search for the source of the scream._

"_What the hell's going on?" Atsushi asked Ryuichi as he, too, looked outside the classroom to see what the commotion was all about._

"_No idea," Ryuichi answered. Most of the students in the corridor looked clueless too as to what was happening, but Ryuichi was sure that what they heard was surely a voice of a person that seemed to come from the lower floors._

"_Do you think we should check it out?" Shiori asked them as he swept the whole corridor of the 4__th__ floor with his gaze. _

"_No," Atushi said simply. "C'mon guys, let's get back to our seats," he added as he urged both Ryuichi and Shiori back to their desks. The three of them were halfway towards their seats when they heard another scream, but this time it was more audible than the last one._

"_HELP ME! SOMEBODY!"_

_Ryuichi frowned at both Shiori and Atsushi. The scream they heard just now confirmed what they heard the first time: the voice belonged to a woman. The three of them marched out of their classroom and saw that almost all of the students in their floor are now huddled in the corridor, stridently exchanging opinions and looking all puzzled._

"_Is there a fire drill?"_

"_Maybe someone got injured or something?"_

"_Has anyone tried to search where the voice was coming from?"_

"_That's just an idiot practicing to be an idiot."_

"_Hey, come on, let's see what's happening," Ryuichi said to Shiori and Atsushi as he made his way towards the staircase that are now swarmed with curious students._

"_The afternoon class is about to start any minute now, Ryuichi. Come on, let's just go back," Atsushi said unenthusiastically._

_Ryuichi and Shiori, though, continued to ease their way down the stairs and reached the 3__rd__ floor (which was also crammed with students) just in time to see Tsukasa Fujino, one of their classmates, climbing the 3rd floor stairs in a great hurry._

"_Hey, what's happening?" Ryuichi asked him bewilderedly, while Tsukasa crouched down, both of his hands rested on his knees, trying to catch his breath._

"_Ryuichi..." Tsukasa panted as he clutched his sides warily. "You won't believe this, but it's Tohma Seguchi!"_

--oooo0000oooo--

_Tohma breathed heavily, opening his eyes steadily, as he felt the sharp pain shot through his whole elbow while he struggled to prevent his body from pinning down the person receiving his dead weight. Tohma blinked and saw that Haruka continued to lay quietly under him even though she had the look of utmost defiance plastered on her face._

"_What the hell was that for?" Tohma asked her angrily but calmly as he got up on his knees. He groped for his chin gingerly and saw that it was bleeding. He honestly didn't know the goal that Haruka wanted to achieve for pulling him to the floor like that, but since it came as a surprise for Tohma, he had no chance to grab hold of something to prevent his fall, leading him to lose balance and eventually hit the floor badly._

What the hell does she think she's doing? _It was the first time in his life he seriously wanted to punch a girl. It feels like all the traits that he dislike in a person has been jammed altogether in one big package and was shoved directly to his face._ And she's really noisy too...

_A testimony to that was actually during seconds to their fall, Tohma heard Haruka screamed something, but since his mind is occupied with the numbing pain on his elbow, his brain was not able to comprehend the words she yelled._

Really at this rate, with people like these, I'll definitely die young,_ Tohma thought to himself as he gritted his teeth, making a mental note not to ever use an elbow to cushion a fall. He wondered if he broke a bone or something. _

_Tohma tried to ignore the digging soreness on his elbow as he slowly rose on his feet since he realized, only in that moment, that he and Haruka were in a rather uncomfortable position that anyone could easily misinterpret. But before Tohma could fully stand on both of his feet, Haruka clutched his overly-abused collar once more and tugged him hard towards her._

"_Hey!" Tohma shouted angrily as his knees gave a nasty wobble before giving in to Haruka's force. He landed nastily on Haruka's chest, at the same time he felt a horrible chill creeping at the back of his head. Tohma pulled away his head quickly from crushing Haruka's front and felt the blood in his whole body climbed up his head. He was sure that his face looked like a red tomato now._

Idiot! This is not the time to be embarrassed!

"_I told you you're going to regret this," Haruka whispered to him softly, who was looking indifferent inspite of Tohma's face landing on her breasts. She further tightened her grip on Tohma and then, without warning, screamed at the top of her lungs that was sure to be heard in the whole building._

"_HELP ME! SOMEBODY!"_

"_What the hell are you doing?!" Tohma shouted furiously, looking alarmed at finally having realized the intent of Haruka for this whole thing._

_Tohma thought he heard voices outside the room. The students on the floor must have located the source of the commotion. There were loud noises and hurried footsteps on the hallway as students began to gather at the door. Then Tohma heard the familiar voice of Mr. Nakahara, their physical education teacher, just outside the door, asking the students about the situation._

_Tohma, sensing that he was seriously in a dangerous situation, pulled himself hard from Haruka. It was only after a few more disentangling effort that Tohma was finally able to free himself from Haruka's grip. However, he was still in a rather sexually suggestive position with her when he saw the music room door flew open with a bang._

"_WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT RACKET ALL A-," Nakahara-sensei bellowed but immediately felt quiet when he saw the unexpected scene before him. Silence descended as all of them, including the students who were now piled up behind Mr. Nakahara, stared in astonishment at Tohma and Haruka who were sprawled motionlessly together on the ground._

Shit! This is not happening!_ Tohma thought disbelievingly. He gulped and breathed heavily as sweatdrops began to roll down the side of his face. _Oh God, don't let this happen to me, _his inner mind pleaded as he tried to think quickly of a good way out of the situation._

"_Sensei, this is not what you think it is," Tohma began as he defended himself anxiously from the vast amount of people that were now assembled at the door. He pulled himself upward on his feet and gently clutched his aching elbow. Tohma could hear his heartbeat in his ears._

"_Mr. Nakahara, it's not-"_

"_SENSEI! HELP ME! PLEASE HELP ME!" Haruka shouted as she stood from the floor and ran desperately behind Mr. Nakahara. "IT'S SEGUCHI-SAN, SENSEI," Haruka said between large sobs. "HE TRIED TO ATTACK ME!"_

_WHAT?!_

_Tohma looked dumbfounded just as everyone else from Haruka's last statement. Mr. Nakahara was looking at Tohma with pure disbelief. "Is... is that true, Mr. Seguchi?"_

"_No, it's not!" Tohma yelled loudly between heavy gasps. His respirations started to increase disturbingly. He saw the students, who were tiptoeing behind Mr. Nakahara, whispered among themselves and shot him suspicious looks._

"_He's lying!" Haruka shouted back, looking at the students behind her and trying to convince them to believe her. "He attacked me and tried to rip off my clothes, but I fought back and was able to scream for help!" she told dramatically as she put her face on her palms and cried loudly._

"_What are you saying?! Stop making up stories!" Tohma shouted angrily at Haruka. He could feel that something grim was happening to his body. He felt kind of dizzy and nauseated. If this keeps up..._

_He knew that things from here are going to get worse. Tohma huffed desperately for a mouthful of air as he walked towards Nakahara-sensei, whom he spotted, was still standing motionless at the door and looking at him in shock._

"_Sensei, it's not true," Tohma appealed weakly, the wheezing sound of his own breathing more audible than before. His asthma attacks had started._

"_Somebody... Someone, get the vice-principal immediately!" Mr. Nakahara finally said, directing his orders to one of the students behind him. He wiped the cold sweat on his forehead as he strived to disperse the flock of students behind him. "Go back to your class now, everybody!"_

_Tohma tried to grab hold of something for support as he plummeted back down to the floor, clutching his chest in pain. It felt as if the very air in his lungs is poison, deadening all of his body's sensation. Every part of him started to scream in pain._

"_Oye Seguchi, are you ok?" He heard Mr. Nakahara's voice asked him._

_Tohma opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He coughed hard, believing that it would help him breathe better, but regretted it seconds later as the excruciating pain in his chest doubled. Tohma sensed an impending suffocation coming..._

"_There's... there's something wrong with him..."_

"_Let's bring him to the clinic!"_

"_ALL OF YOU, CLEAR OUT THE WAY!" _

_Tohma struggled to take hold of his consciousness as he felt somebody lift him from the floor. His head felt really weird, and knew that it's only a matter of seconds before his body would give in. It appeared his body has lost its will to continue._

_He opened his eyes a fraction and tried to see where he was. He saw numerous students looking at him but Tohma could not distinguish their faces as he was slipping away from all of them in a blur. He tried to raise his head a little to find a friendly face amongst the fuzzy ones that he had been passing. For a second, he thought he saw a familiar greenish-brown hair along the staircase, and Tohma reflected, before finally drifting to the dream world, that no matter what happens, he knew there were still people out there that would trust and believe him._

--oooo0000oooo--

_Ryuichi stood rooted on his place, looking aghast on what he was seeing. There were about half the school standing on the corridors, hushing over what looked like an unconscious Tohma on Mr. Nakahara's arms. Ryuichi honestly doesn't know what exactly happened, but basing from Tsukasa's story, Tohma was rather in a serious situation before he lost his consciousness. _

But that's stupid! Tohma would never do THAT!_ Ryuichi told himself as he pushed his way to the clinic where Mr. Nakahara brought his friend. He fought hard against the massive wave of students now occupying the hallway outside, and after a few more solid efforts, was able to slip his way past the people huddled at the door._

_Ryuichi spotted Tohma lying out cold on the bed near the window while receiving oxygen from the tank beside him. He also saw Ms. Takatou, their school doctor, assessing Tohma's body hurriedly._

"_How long has he been unconscious?" Dr. Takatou asked Mr. Nakahara as she auscultated Tohma's chest with her stethoscope._

"_I don't know! Maybe less than 5 minutes," Mr. Nakahara answered, looking panicked._

"_This is not good," Dr. Takatou said weakly. "His respiration is too slow!"_

_Ryuichi looked and saw that true to Dr. Takatou's words, his friend's chest was barely rising._

"_Somebody, call an ambulance now!" Dr. Takatou shouted as she rummaged the medicine cabinets loudly, looking hastily around the different medicines stacked on the shelves._

"_I'll call them!" Mr. Nakahara volunteered loudly, shoving students out of the way as he stumbled out of the clinic in a hurry._

"_I'll go try and manage his condition with some drugs for the mean time, but I don't think it will last long," Dr. Takatou said to herself as she aspirated a drug to a syringe. "I hope this works." She whispered while she injected the drug swiftly to Tohma's left upper arm, and felt lightly for his forehead after._

"_He is burning with fever," Dr. Takatou said. She retrieved her hand and ran quickly to the sink to make a cold compress._

_Ryuichi gulped and stepped inside the clinic. He inched his way towards his friend, and caught sight of Tohma's face which was flushed and sweaty. Ryuichi observed that Tohma's chin was bleeding feebly so he got his handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped off the blood gently._

"_Takatou-sensei, is he going to be alright?" Ryuichi asked Dr. Takatou timidly as she put the wet towel on Tohma's forehead._

"_I'm not really sure," Dr. Takatou said delicately as she looked at him. "Are you Seguchi's friend?" _

"_Yeah..." Ryuichi said softly, removing his handkerchief away from Tohma's chin._

"_Let's just hope for the best, ne?" Dr. Takatou said, smiling at him._

_Ryuichi nodded meekly. He moved closer to Tohma's side and stood there for a while. He clutched his friend's arms lightly and tried to control the odd thriving feeling he felt in his eyes. Tohma's lips were white as paper but his skin was hot as burning coal. Is Tohma really going to be ok?_

"_T-tohma?" Ryuichi called, but there was no response. "Ne, Tohma..."_

_Ryuichi nudged Tohma's arms gently, aiming to wake him up, but was taken aback when his friend's body suddenly began to tremble. _

What's happening?!

"_S-sakuma-san, help me hold him in place!" Dr. Takatou called to Ryuichi as she supported Tohma's head firmly, being careful not to let it hit the head of the bed as Tohma's body was now shuddering violently. "You guys! Come here and help us!" she further called, directing it to the students that were watching at the door. _

_Three students, including Shiori and Atsushi, and a 2__nd__ year student, quickly ran forward to the bedside. Dr. Takatou ordered them to hold and support Tohma to prevent him from falling off the bed or getting any injury. She also pointed to them not to restrain him too hard as this might make Tohma's situation more complicated. _

_Dr. Takatou's orders are easier said than done, Ryuichi reflected as he held Tohma's quivering arms. His friend's body is shaking so badly now that even the whole bed shuddered, and keeping Tohma still had already started taking its toll on Ryuichi's already exhausted arms._

"_What's happening to him, sensei?!" Ryuichi asked loudly as he grasped tightly Tohma's cold and rigid arms._

"_It's convulsion! His temperature is too high that his body cannot adapt to it too easily!" Dr. Takatou answered worriedly, still anchoring Tohma's head._

_Few seconds passed and Tohma's body looked like it's finally losing its strength. His body gradually began to stop its shaking. However in place of the convulsion, Tohma became mysteriously rigid moment by moment. Ryuichi saw Dr. Takatou reach and feel for Tohma's sweaty forehead. After a few seconds, she sighed and withdrew her hand without saying a word. She then reached for the wet towel on Tohma's forehead and wiped with it the now bleeding lip of Tohma._

_Ryuichi gazed at his friend and exhaled deeply. _He must have bitten his lip during the convulsion, _he contemplated as he observed him. Ryuichi noticed that Tohma's face was redder than before, and there was a visible line of dried liquid coming from one of his eyes. Whether it's sweat or tears, Ryuichi didn't know._

You stupid stupid idiot! _Ryuichi's mind cried loudly. He reached and gripped Tohma's hand tightly, desperately hoping that somehow his friend would be able to feel his presence and open his eyes, even for a second. Ryuichi just wanted to see his friend wake up; he wanted to believe that everything's alright. _TOHMA, YOU STUPID IDIOT!

_Ryuichi did not know how many minutes had passed since he held his friend's hand or how many times he cursed Tohma in his head. He was just carried back to reality when he heard Mr. Nakahara's voice declaring that the ambulance he called has finally arrived. _

_Ryuichi released Tohma's hand as Mr. Nakahara lifted his friend's body from the bed and carried him swiftly out of the clinic, out of the building, and out of Ryuichi's sight._

--oooo0000oooo--

Tohma Seguchi opened his eyes bit by bit, embracing in his mind the vast darkness that seemed to echo all around him. The still black void that he is in now, surrounding every part of his body, seemed alive. He felt the stiffening stillness seeping in his veins, engulfing the last of the remaining strength left in him.

_Where am I?_

Tohma lowered his head and looked at his feet. The darkness that he was standing on flowed seamlessly, infinitely to the deepest depths of the never-ending emptiness.

_Where am I?_

Tohma knelt down and touched the floor. It felt cold, but at the same time strangely warm. He was surprised to see that it has the same property as that of a flowing liquid. It was moving incessantly; its surface ruffled like water when touched. He moved his hands freely under it, watching quietly as the floor swirled disturbingly beneath him, dancing lazily to the beat of his hand.

_Does it hurt? _Tohma heard a voice speak to him.

Tohma looked up and saw his 8-year old self looking back at him. He withdrew his arm from the surface of the floor, and saw that his hand turned purplish-black. Tohma stood up and looked at his odd hand for a few minutes, and then turned his gaze to the boy in front of him. Tohma noticed that the boy's left eye was now bleeding profusely.

_Does it hurt?_ His 8-year old self repeated.

Tohma did not answer. Pain. He actually doesn't remember the last time he felt pain, or happiness, or sadness. In fact, he doesn't even remember feeling anything at all. What does pain feel like?

_Your eye, it's bleeding._ Tohma croaked silently.

These weren't the words he was intending to say, but it escaped his lips before he can stop it. It was his first time to speak after a long while. His jaw felt rigid, and his tongue tasted blood. There was an escalating uneasiness building up his throat, burning down the thoughts he truly wanted to speak.

The boy simply glared at him. His 8 year-old self looked uncaring of the blood that was flowing abundantly from his eye. It was a morbid but beautiful sight.

Tohma walked towards the boy. He lifted his hand so to try and wipe off the blood on the kid's face but stopped as he saw his purplish-black hand began to crack, disintegrating steadily to dust and mixing with the mysterious liquid floor.

_The sun is turning inside out_, he heard the boy muttered under his breath while looking at something behind Tohma. He turned around to see what it was but saw nothing. It was still the same deafening darkness piercing his senses.

Tohma faced forward but saw that the boy has vanished. However, a white candle burning lazily was placed on the exact spot where his little self was standing earlier. The candle emitted an eerie light that seemed to disturb the blanket of shadows encasing it. Tohma felt himself being bafflingly drawn to its radiance, watching its dim light flicker languidly with the wind he cannot feel.

_Are you afraid? _a new voice asked him.

Tohma continued to stare at the candle's light. Its glow made him feel something, though he did not know what it is.

_What are you afraid of?_ The voice continued to ask him.

Tohma thought he heard the voice somewhere before. He closed his eyes and tried to remember. He waited for the new voice to speak. He waited, but the voice did not come. Instead, two warm hands responded in its stead, wrapping delicately around Tohma's eyes.

_Why do you want to be alone?_ The voice whispered in his ear.

_Is it wrong to feel such thing?_

_What are you afraid of?_

The hands left Tohma's eyes slowly, noiselessly, and in front of him he saw a memory of his childhood unfurl before him, quite vividly, like a video tape that played over and over in his mind.

"Why do you want to be alone?" his mother asked the 8-year old Tohma gently. She was on her knees and was patting Tohma's head softly with her delicate hand.

The little Tohma did not answer but continued to frown on something at the floor.

"You're friends really wanted to see you, you know."

"They're not my friends," Tohma said quietly.

"But you guys play around a lot, right? You always hang out with them in school," his mother asked him, looking puzzled.

"Yeah, that's because we're classmates. But they're not my friends," Tohma said firmly as he clenched his fist in silence.

Tohma's mother cupped both of her hands on each side of Tohma's small cheeks and raised his head slowly. There was a mixed expression of sadness and pain on her beautiful face as she looked her son in the eyes. "Why not?" her mother asked him gently.

"Because I don't want to get hurt anymore!" the little Tohma said in a breaking voice. He can't seem to endure his feelings any longer and cried silently in his mother's arms. His mother hugged him tightly, tapping his back soothingly.

"If I don't make friends, moving to another place will be easy for me!" Tohma sobbed continually in his mother's shoulders.

The present Tohma looked at the scene in front of him as it disappeared slowly into thin mist. It's true. When he was a kid, he has been avoiding any commitments and close relationship with people. It proved convenient for him since he and his parents moved quite often from place to place. He never wanted to undergo the same painful goodbyes anymore, as he had countless times in the past. He never tried to care deeply for someone unrelated to him before, nor made any action to be noticed by others because he was afraid. He felt inadequate. He felt small. He felt trivial.

He never truly felt deeply loved because he always isolated himself from others. He constantly puts up a barrier between him and other people; a barrier high enough so that no one could reach the other side.

But that really made him feel alone. It made him feel lonely. So he tried to change that part of him over the years, bit by bit, as if trying to live his whole life all over again. He strived to open himself up to people, waiting, hoping that someone would find him eventually. He just wanted for someone to break that solid barrier for him, see him and accept him as he is, whether he was adequate or not.

That was all he ever wanted.

_TOHMA, YOU STUPID IDIOT! _Tohma heard another voice call out. He turned and saw a faceless figure standing a few good feet away from him. _YOU STUPID STUPID IDIOT! _The figure repeated as it ran towards him and held his uninjured hand.

_Who are you?_ Tohma asked silently, as he felt the figure gripped his cold hand tightly.

The creature did not respond but continued to float mysteriously before him. Tohma stared at its featureless face, trying to discern its identity, connecting desperately to the strong emotion he peculiarly felt for it.

_I will never leave you_, the figure whispered in his ear. Tohma's heart skipped a beat as the final strength left his body. He felt his legs giving away and fell on his knees, but the figure padded his fall as it embraced him warmly in its arms. He sensed something hot welling on the side of his eyes. Tohma cried for the first time in years.

--oooo0000oooo--

"Eh?"

Tohma opened his eyes and caught himself staring at the white ceiling of a hospital room. The room was dark, but he can still discern the different shadows that seemed to fill it. He squinted and tried to adjust his eyes in the dark. He saw someone sleeping on the sofa across the room; he struggled to get up to see who it was but was pulled immediately back to the bed by the dead weight that was clutching his right arm.

Tohma leaned closer to see the person sleeping on his side and laughed to himself as he realized who it was.

_What a sleepyhead_, Tohma chuckled as he poked Ryuichi's cheek with his other hand. His right hand felt numb from being immobile after a long time. _How long has Ryuichi been holding his hand?_

Tohma looked at his friend and finally realized who the mysterious figure in his dream was.

--o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**- End of Track 05 -**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o--

April 21, 2008

**Author's Notes:**

-Ahem- I'm not dead yet so you people can stop rejoicing. Yes, as you can see, unbelievable as it is, this fic of mine gets updated. So like SUPER SORRY to the readers and reviewers who waited (if there was actually one) for like forever for me to update this damn fic. –sigh-sigh-

There are actually valid reasons why this fic took so long to be updated. First, this chapter have undergone like the mother overhaul of all overhauls in the universe. There are about 3 versions of this chapter, and the one you just read is the last revision. Each version is so different from one another, each having a plot unique to each other with regards to where the story leads and such. Second, more scenes were added here and there, so the awaited cliff-hanger I've been wanting to write will have to be moved to Chapter 6. Third, I was like brain dead for one whole year because of the constant mental torture I have to undergo in the precious school of mine.

Anyway, as you can see, I diverted Tohma's feelings a little bit so that he can have that connection with Ryuichi. I think this fic will have to take a great turn to a TOHMAXRYUICHI path. gasps But I will still include a love angle between Shuichi and Tohma, so you ShuichixTohma fans don't have to be disappointed. -nods-

Oh yeah, if you might notice, I kinda used a lot of dream scenes in this fic, ne? I don't actually know why I like to do that. But nevertheless, I still like all of my scenes. I specifically loved the last dream of Tohma. Yeah, that _weird_ dream with his hands and all. In this dream, I tried to explain why the 31 year-old Tohma appears cold and aloof to strangers. That's the best random reason that I can come up with, so I used it shamelessly. XD

Take also into consideration that I have changed Tohma's status from being a middle-schooler to a high-schooler. I think middle-schoolers are too young for my taste, and believed that high-schoolers kick ass better.

Everything, and I mean everything that was not shown in the anime nor in the manga are purely made by me. They're mine. Satoshi's mine. Earlier chapters were also edited to remove typos and errors I have so painfully spotted.

Translations:

'Ka-san – short for oka-san, which means mother.

Shimata – more like 'Shit' in our language.

Sensei – teacher/doctor. Usually are used to people who are professionals (I think).

Yume – dream.

PMS – pre-menstrual syndrome. A collection of signs and symptoms that girls usually experience right before their menstruation. Some of them are mood swings, irritation, and attitude changes.

Thank you for all the people who keep supporting this fic. I love you from the bottom of my wicked heart. :3

P.S. I feel so bad as an author. XD My writing style looked too amateur compared to the great ones here in the site. But anyway, I pacified myself by telling my mind that I do this just for fun and I should relax and just enjoy it. ;-) But critiques are most welcome.


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